Little known facts about Uncle Ho's badge that Lieutenant General Pham Tuan brought into space

On the morning of May 12, the family of painter Bui Trang Chuoc presented a portrait of Uncle Ho to the National Archives Center III ( Ministry of the Interior ). The event was held to celebrate the 133rd birthday of President Ho Chi Minh and to honor the talent of painter Bui Trang Chuoc and the contribution of the painter's family to the cause of preserving the nation's cultural heritage.

The relics received by the archive center include: badge sample “INTERCOSMOS” and portrait “PRESIDENT HO”; badge sample, powder-painted picture frame; money sample with Uncle Ho’s portrait; design drawing for the facade decoration of President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.

Mr. Bui Trang Chuoc is a leading talented artist of Vietnamese art, famous for his portraits of Uncle Ho on stamps, posters, badges, and coins. He is the creator of the National Emblem, now recognized as a national treasure.

Portraits of Uncle Ho drawn by artist Bui Trang Chuoc.

In addition to painting postage stamps, money, and teaching, he is the author of unique lacquer paintings such as Thac Ba Hydropower Plant, Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant, Ha Long Bay, Hue Ancient Capital... He is also the author of medals, certificates of merit, certificates of merit of the State, the author of the symbol of War Invalids and Martyrs Day July 27, the author of the symbol of the General Confederation of Labor (now the General Confederation of Labor) of Vietnam...

Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy, the artist’s daughter, said that her father devoted his entire life to painting, and his works were all associated with historical and revolutionary milestones in Vietnam. Having met President Ho Chi Minh, he greatly admired, respected and had deep affection for the leader of the nation.

Ms. Thuy shared about her father's painting style: "Drawing a portrait of President Ho Chi Minh is a difficult task, not at all simple. The difficulty of drawing a portrait of Uncle Ho is to capture his "spirit" and express how to make the viewer feel his personality and character through the painting....

The artist must have a very high level of skill and expertise, must put his whole heart into the painting and especially must have boundless respect and love for Uncle Ho to have a work through which the viewer can feel that he is a hero, an old father of the nation.

Portrait of President Ho Chi Minh on stamps and money by artist Bui Trang Chuoc

He successfully portrayed President Ho through postage stamps such as: "Uncle Ho reading the Declaration of Independence", "Good people, good deeds" commemorating the 81st anniversary of Uncle Ho's birthday, stamp "Commemorating the 100th anniversary of President Ho's birthday" and especially to show his respect for Uncle Ho, he drew a decorative design for the facade of President Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum.

Painter Bui Trang Chuoc also successfully portrayed President Ho on coins and especially the portrait of him cast in gold as a badge for Lieutenant General Pham Tuan to take on the Interkosmos space flight in 1980.

As the person who brought the badge with President Ho Chi Minh's portrait into space, Lieutenant General Pham Tuan said that at that time he did not know the origin and author of this work.

In 1980, the Vietnamese delegation to the Soviet Union assigned him the important task of bringing a number of objects representing the image of Vietnam into space, including President Ho Chi Minh's will, a handful of soil at Ba Dinh, the Declaration of Independence read by Uncle Ho on September 2, the national flag and two badges with portraits of the nation's leader.

Lieutenant General Pham Tuan shared at the ceremony.

These objects were given to Mr. Pham Tuan to confirm that "Vietnamese people flew into space". After the flight ended, the crew members signed the Vietnamese flag.

The general shared: "At that moment, I was very moved to be the representative carrying the sacred image of the Fatherland into space. At that time, only about 10 countries had people flying into space. The whole world knew about Vietnam and Uncle Ho."

"The late artist's works about Uncle Ho have remained in the minds of most Vietnamese people, even in their own homes, from banknotes to medals, badges... all bear the artist's mark. Only today did I know that the author of these works is artist Bui Trang Chuoc," the Lieutenant General affirmed.

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