This is an activity of Vietnam Airlines to celebrate the country's major holiday in 2025 as well as mark the 30-year development journey and strong steps of the National Airline in the era of growth.

"Vietnam Airlines is not only an airline, but also a cultural ambassador, a bridge between Vietnam and the world. Each flight is not simply a journey, but also a story about identity, national pride and the strong aspiration of a developing Vietnam. That is the mission that the National Airline has always pursued throughout the journey of the past three decades. Once again, the image of the Lac Bird is recreated, accompanying Vietnam Airlines to bring the image of a beautiful, traditional Vietnam to international friends, affirming Vietnam's position on the world map," said Mr. Dang Anh Tuan, Deputy General Director of Vietnam Airlines.

Up to now, the concept of what kind of bird is Lac bird in reality has many different views from many scholars and researchers. We had a discussion with Professor, Doctor (GS-TS) Nguyen Quang Ngoc - Member of the interdisciplinary professor council of History - Archeology - Ethnology about this issue.

Professor Nguyen Quang Ngoc - Member of the interdisciplinary professorship council of History - Archaeology - Ethnology

According to Professor Nguyen Quang Ngoc, during the Hung King period, the largest tribe that built the first state was the Lac Viet people, which also had the "Lac" element. In that Vietnamese tribe, the leader was the Lac general and the people were called Lac people. Even at that time, it was the time of typical wet rice agricultural civilization, the fields for plowing were also called Lac fields. Therefore, it can be said that the word "Lac" is a common name of the first era of nation building of the Vietnamese people. And the first era of nation building was also the period of Dong Son culture, the material mark left behind was the Dong Son bronze drum with the drum face being the image of Lac birds.

Through research on the civilization of the first nation-building era, the Red River civilization, the Dong Son bronze drum is the highest symbol of the Red River civilization, representing the community of residents who practice wet rice farming in tropical areas, hot and rainy like the Northern region of our country. There, people choose wet rice as their main occupation and the image of fields, bamboo fences, and birds flying and perching on the fields has become a very familiar image since that time. Therefore, it has been included in the symbolic works of art of the era, the Dong Son bronze drum.

Professor Nguyen Quang Ngoc shared: "When looking at the image of the Lac bird on the Dong Son bronze drum, each person will have a different judgment. Some people say it is a phoenix, some say it is an eagle, or some say it is some kind of bird. I think it is a stork, or even a heron or a heron. These are species that like to live in bamboo forests and bamboo bushes. When it is time to look for food, they fly all over the fields. The most typical image of the wet rice agricultural civilization in the Red River Delta is the stork, which has entered the folk songs and proverbs of the Vietnamese people. When talking about the countryside, we must talk about the stork, when talking about the primitive wet rice agricultural civilization of the Vietnamese people, we cannot do without the stork."

From an ethnological perspective, the Vietnamese always believe that our ancestors are of the fairy and dragon species. In which, the fairy is the mother Au Co, which is the bird species, and the dragon is the father Lac Long Quan. That is the origin of the Vietnamese people calling each other "compatriots" for generations, identifying themselves as "children of Lac - descendants of Hong" or "children of Dragon - descendants of Fairy". These are two strong resources to create the first primitive state, the Van Lang State and then the Au Lac State. Therefore, according to Professor and Doctor Nguyen Quang Ngoc, the Lac bird is also an image of a human, because it is an image representing the ethnic group.

Through many analyses, Professor Nguyen Quang Ngoc believes that the Lac bird is an image of a divine bird that can be expressed on the basis of a real bird and is deified to become a common symbol through each historical period of Vietnam.

Expressing his opinion on Vietnam Airlines recreating the image of the Lac bird on the fuselage of an upcoming Vietnam Airlines aircraft, Professor Dr. Nguyen Quang Ngoc said: "We are entering an era of national growth, but it must be on the foundation of the true cultural values ​​that our ancestors have created. I think that if the image of the Lac bird is brought together with the traditional lotus image on modern Vietnam Airlines aircraft to many lands, it will clearly show the image of the Vietnamese people's growth; demonstrate the determination to grow, affirm the brand and position of Vietnam Airlines in the regional and international aviation industry. It is not only a symbol of sustainable development, but also in line with the general development trend of the times", Professor Dr. Nguyen Quang Ngoc said.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chim-lac-bieu-tuong-van-hoa-tren-doi-canh-vietnam-airlines-185250418165758256.htm