Photos show city balconies united under red flags for Vietnam's National Day

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Vietnamese and communist flags fly outside a house in the old quarter of Hanoi, Vietnam, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

A Vietnamese national flag flies outside a home in the old quarter of Hanoi, Vietnam, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian) — Vietnamese and communist flags fly outside a house in the old quarter of Hanoi, Vietnam, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

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1:23 AM on Monday, September 1

By VINCENT THIAN

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — In Hanoi, Vietnam, balconies hold the city’s layers.

French villas lean out with wrought-iron rails. Socialist-era blocks offer concrete ledges, some with cracked walls or missing window panes. New towers push out glass terraces toward the sky.

In the days before Vietnam celebrates its 80th National Day on Tuesday — commemorating its 1945 independence from French colonial rule — these differences fade. From every edge — iron, concrete, or steel — a red flag with a yellow star flutters.

Some hang neatly, others are tied to bamboo poles or taped to walls. On many balconies, families gather to watch parade rehearsals. Laundry and potted plants make room for a view of the street below.

For a moment, the red flags stretching across the city unite the old balconies and new towers — markers of class and time — in a single celebration.