The general secretary of the Communist Party central committee passed away on the afternoon of July 19, 2024, due to old age illness at the age of 80.
His funeral will be held according to national mourning rituals on July 25 and 26.
During the two-day funeral, flags will be at half-mast and tied with a black band, while all public entertainment will be suspended.
However, immediately after the news of his passing came, many establishments and civilians lowered the national flag to mourn the late leader.
Many are showing documentary films in his honor on screens in front of their buildings instead of the usual advertisements.
In the above photo, an LCD screen on a shopping mall at the corner of Trang Tien and Hang Bai streets shows documentaries about Trong.
Since July 22 afternoon authorities have flown flags at half-mast in front of the Ly Thai To statue on Dinh Tien Hoang Street.
The flags along Dinh Tien Hoang Street opposite the Turtle Tower in Hanoi’s iconic Sword Lake are tied with black ribbons.
This too involves protocol. Flying at half-mast requires the flag to be hoisted two-thirds of the way up the flagpole and tied with a black band to prevent it from flying freely.
The black band should be as long as the flag and one-tenth its width.
The flagpole in front of the Hanoi People’s Committee building beside a portrait of President Ho Chi Minh.
On Hang Bong Street in Hoan Kiem District, flags of various sizes with black bands attached are being sold.
A security guard at a kindergarten on Hai Ba Trung Street is tying a flag with black ribbon before hoisting it on the gate.
On Tran Nhan Tong Street, a staff member lowers the flag to tie it with a black ribbon before re-hoisting it.
A coffee shop on Hang Can Street in the old quarter has a flag on its second floor.
It was announced on July 20 that the body of the deceased leader will lie in state at the National Funeral Hall at 5 Tran Thanh Tong Street.
The public can pay its respect from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on July 25, and from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on July 26. A memorial ceremony will take place at 1 p.m. on July 26, and he will be buried at the Mai Dich Cemetery at 3 p.m. the same day.
In a career spanning 60 years, Trong made "many major, exceptional contributions to the glorious revolutionary cause of the Party and the people," the Party Central Committee, the National Assembly, President To Lam, the government and the central committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front said in a statement.
He was conferred the Gold Star Order and a 55-year Party membership badge by the Communist Party and international awards such as the National Gold Medal by Laos, the Friendship Medal by China, the Lenin Award by Russia, and the Jose Marti Badge by Cuba.
In Thua Thien-Hue in central Vietnam, the flag tower, a part of Hue Monuments Complex, was the first to fly flags at half-mast after the announcement of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's passing.
An image of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong appears on an LED display on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in HCMC's District 1 on July 22.
