PURPLE MOURNING RIBBON FOR PRESIDENT HO CHI MINH

The ribbon used by Mrs. Ha Thi Mung’s family to secretly mourn President Ho Chi Minh in 1969  

Mrs. Ha Thi Mung, from An Ninh Thuong village, Huong Long commune (now Huong Long ward), Hue City, Thua Thien Hue province, was a revolutionary supporter during the resistance against the U.S.  

In 1969, upon hearing the news of President Ho Chi Minh's passing, Mrs. Ha Thi Mung, who was a fabric merchant at Kim Long and Thong markets, devised a discreet way to mourn and pay tribute to him. In her fabric store, she tied mourning ribbons to the rolls of fabric: black ribbons on white fabric, white ribbons on black fabric, and red ribbons on yellow fabric. At the most prominent spot in her shop, Mrs. Ha placed a vase of lilies adorned with a purple ribbon, knowing that lilies were the flowers President Ho Chi Minh often kept on his desk.  

In this way, the white lily vase with its purple ribbon, along with the multi-colored mourning ribbons on the fabric rolls, allowed Mrs. Ha to mourn him for an extended period without the enemy ever suspecting.  

Over time, due to the turmoil of war, most of the mourning ribbons were lost. However, the purple ribbon used to mourn President Ho Chi Minh was carefully preserved by Mrs. Ha. After her passing, her family continued to cherish this symbolic artifact.  

In 1997, Mr. Ha Van Phat, Mrs. Ha Thi Mung’s younger brother, donated the purple mourning ribbon to the Ho Chi Minh Museum in Thua Thien Hue for safekeeping and display.