Proud to sew the national flag

Careful with every stitch

Doan Tung Commune currently has 3 national flag sewing workshops. Work is done all year round, but every time the Lunar New Year, April 30, May 1 and National Day September 2 approaches, workers at these workshops are busier because orders increase sharply. From these workshops, hundreds of thousands of flags have reached all parts of the country, flying from the border to remote islands.

Ms. Le Thi Lien's garment factory in Dao Lam village, Doan Tung commune has been sewing national flags since 2012. To sew beautiful, standard flags, the craftsman must have many years of experience and skillful hands through each needle and thread, and most importantly, must be dedicated and love the job. "Sewing national flags and Party flags must ensure compliance with standards and regulations on size. The fabric selection stage also largely determines the quality of the flag, so garment factories must choose beautiful fabrics that do not fray so that the flags are durable in the rain and sun," Ms. Lien said.

Ms. Lien recalls that more than 10 years ago, when she started sewing the first national flags, she encountered many difficulties, having to take them apart and sew them again many times. Gradually, thanks to learning and improving her knowledge, Ms. Lien became a skilled and experienced tailor.

The largest national flag Ms. Lien has ever sewn is 54 square meters, symbolizing the 54 ethnic groups of Vietnam. Large flags are often ordered as gifts by units and businesses. However, she only dares to sew large flags when the sewing workshop is not too busy. Because sewing a flag this large requires many complicated steps, fabric joining, etc. In recent years, Ms. Lien's workshop has invested in laser cutting machines, programming machines, etc. to increase accuracy and productivity.

More motivation to stick with the job

Also in Dao Lam village, Doan Tung commune, Nguyen Thi Tuoi's workshop started sewing the national flag about 3 years ago. At first, Tuoi had to disassemble and re-sewn the flag many times. "I invested nearly 400 million VND in a CNC electronic material processing machine to serve production," said Tuoi.

According to Ms. Tuoi, although machines support a lot in the cutting and sewing processes, there are some steps that machines cannot replace humans. According to many workers, the most difficult step in making a national flag is sewing the yellow star. The worker needs to position the star in the center of the flag, then use skillful hands and precision from the needle and thread to create decisive, straight seams. After completion, the flag is not only accurate in standards and dimensions but also sharp, the yellow star must be flat and stand out on the red flag background.

Currently, Ms. Tuoi's workshop has 4-5 regular workers. As the National Day approaches on September 2, her workshop is busy with orders for sewing national flags from all over the country. During peak times, her workshop supplies about 10,000 flags to the market. With her nimble hands and straight seams, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha - who has 5 years of experience sewing national flags - shared: "Every time the workshop enters peak production, although busy, we are very happy, because our hands have contributed to sewing sacred national flags. From a small sewing workshop, the flags will fly in front of the houses of households, in agencies, businesses, schools..."

When seeing the national flags hung all over the village streets and alleys on every occasion of Tet and national holidays, tailors like Ms. Lien, Ms. Tuoi, and Ms. Ha have indescribable emotions and more motivation to stick with their profession.