Special features of the 3 blocks of 2/9 Honorary Vehicles on Ba Dinh Square

Few people know that the author of those Honorary Vehicles is an artist - a soldier of the Vietnam People's Army. He has had the honor of designing Honorary Vehicles many times for important national ceremonies.

One day in mid-August, in a small office on the 3rd floor of Ly Nam De Street (Hanoi), Lieutenant Colonel, painter Nguyen Tuan Long (Assistant for Military Fine Arts, Department of Propaganda, General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army) was busy with professional calls to discuss the progress of the entire Honor Guard vehicle.

In the weeks leading up to September 2nd, along with many other forces, artist Long also "wound up" his spirit of working tirelessly so that his "brainchildren" could soon take shape.

Ten years ago, on the occasions of the 40th anniversary of national reunification, the 70th anniversary of National Day and most recently the 70th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory, Lieutenant Colonel, artist Nguyen Tuan Long and his team were also honored to be assigned the task of designing and shaping the Royal Guards vehicles.

Sharing with VietNamNet, Mr. Long introduced each stack of A4 paper from the first sketches with the first rough images to the completed versions drawn in 3D on the computer. “I also do not remember the exact day I started drawing these Royal Seals, but with the honor of having been assigned the task many times, I always think of ideas and do not only do them when assigned the task,” Mr. Long confided.

“In my opinion, the Royal Guards are a special set of celebrations during special national holidays,” said artist Long. Celebration decorations have indoor and outdoor forms. With the Royal Guards, this is a moving outdoor celebration set, honored and enhanced by the language of visual arts.

The Honorary Vehicle Block is an important part of the country's major celebrations, including elaborately designed, meticulously decorated, highly symbolic vehicles, expressing political significance and national spirit, leading the way, opening the parade, marching to show the majesty and solemnity of the event. Therefore, the role of the Honorary Vehicle Block is different from that of ordinary propaganda model vehicles.

Artist Long said that, traditionally, at national celebrations, there are three ceremonial vehicles: the vehicle carrying the national emblem, the vehicle carrying the portrait of President Ho Chi Minh , and the vehicle carrying the symbol of the theme of that anniversary year. Therefore, the thinking of shaping and designing, in addition to artistic expertise, must always adhere to the ideological proposition and nature of the event itself.

Right from the moment he was assigned the responsibility, “with the spirit of a soldier, an artist and especially with the spirit of a Vietnamese citizen”, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Tuan Long determined that this was an especially important task, with the mindset of always putting the mission first. Pride in the country and gratitude for history were the catalysts that helped him come up with ideas. “Every day walking on the streets lined with red flags, my heart was filled with pride, sometimes I was moved to tears”, he confided.

The requirement is that the ceremonial vehicles must represent the most essential and characteristic features of the Vietnamese people. However, they also need to demonstrate the solemnity and dignity of the event; arouse the heroic spirit, self-respect and national pride.

Mr. Long said that the design needs to ensure strict ideological ties, closely linked to the political significance and historical elements of the event; contribute to spreading the ideological values of the new revolutionary period through concise and condensed forms and expressive language; demonstrate maximum artistic quality; and be imbued with national culture...

With the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day September 2, the vehicle designs must be commensurate with the scale and significance of the celebration and the space of Ba Dinh Square and President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.

Regarding the National Emblem Carriage , Mr. Long shared that the National Emblem Carriage for the National Day Celebration will be different from the other Victory Celebrations. “On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory, the National Emblem Carriage is designed between the symbol block and the body of the car to convey the fighting and winning spirit like the Dien Bien soldiers of the past rising up with fighting strength. Meanwhile, the National Emblem Carriage this time will exude majesty and splendor with typical elements of the national spirit,” he said.

The National Emblem procession is composed of two blocks closely related in content and meaning (celebration block and body block) conveying messages and ideas.

The body design is developed from the “rowing boat” motif - a motif on the Dong Son bronze drum, representing “the strength of collective solidarity”; combined with the main decorative block including: National emblem, Party flag and Fatherland flag in the center position. With the idea of honoring and praising the Party and Government for successfully leading and guiding the great national solidarity bloc.

With a forward-moving design, the motifs with typical elements of traditional Vietnamese culture are expressed through simplified shapes, colors distilled in the main tones of "red and yellow", the car has a majestic, dignified and solemn appearance.

The procession, combined with the parade formation following the car, is the force representing the community of 54 Vietnamese ethnic groups. The whole car carrying the national emblem is a symbol of the spirit of great national unity of Vietnam, vowing to wholeheartedly follow the path of socialism that the Party, Uncle Ho and our people have chosen - bringing the "Vietnamese revolutionary boat" to the shore of glory and happiness.

With the procession carrying the portrait of President Ho Chi Minh , Mr. Long emotionally shared that compared to previous celebrations, Uncle Ho's image will be portrayed very specially.

The image of the great President Ho Chi Minh shines with a leisurely, warm gesture next to the national flag block formed in the shape of the letter S. The overall structure of the car block is stylized like a flower platform from lotus petals symbolizing purity, praising the nobility, simplicity, closeness and affection of Uncle Ho for the Vietnamese people.

With coherent shapes and synchronous colors along with traditional-style vehicles; especially, with the form of carrying Uncle Ho's portrait, he said, this is a visual innovation to bring the public the most authentic and solemn impressions and emotions.

During the procession, when combined with the costumes and props of the marching youth, the overall mass of vehicles will create a brilliant harmony, a joyful and exciting atmosphere like the sacred love and longing of Uncle Ho for the future generations of the country.

The 80th anniversary symbolic car - this is the highlight of the celebration, artist Nguyen Tuan Long said, the symbolic car on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of National Day is completely different from the 70th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory.

“We were aware and oriented our compositions so that, in addition to meeting the necessary requirements for the celebration, we also had to closely follow and reflect the ideological propositions and political significance of the new revolutionary period - the period when Vietnam entered a new era, the era of national growth,” he stated.

The main image of the car is the national flag, shaped with the spirit of strength, with the spirit of "rising and taking off", symbolizing the wish for "a strong and everlasting nation - a prosperous and happy country". The star image layout is like a pioneer leading the way, reflecting the country's desire to shine, rise high and fly far in the new era.

The overall vehicle mass is a spiritual message about the strength of Vietnam in a proud and steady posture moving forward. During the march, combined with the costumes and props of the parade force, the vehicle mass will create a strong movement, creating a positive visual impression and good aesthetic emotions.

From the completed drawings and approved by the competent authorities, the Honorary Vehicle models designed by Lieutenant Colonel, artist Nguyen Tuan Long and the construction team, after many difficulties and hardships, appeared for the first time at the rehearsal, preliminary review, and parade rehearsal on Ba Dinh Square and performed official duties in the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the National Day of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Photo: Pham Hai - The Bang

Design: Pham Luyen

Source: https://baonghean.vn/diem-dac-biet-cua-3-khoi-xe-nghi-truong-2-9-tren-quang-truong-ba-dinh-10305646.html