The national flag of Vietnam, formally the National flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, locally recognized as the golden-starred red banner or the Fatherland flag, was designed in 1940 and used during a failed communist uprising against the French colonialists in Cochinchina that year. The red background symbolizes revolution and bloodshed. The golden star symbolizes the soul of the nation and the five points of the star represents the five main classes in Vietnamese society—intellectuals, farmers, workers, entrepreneurs, and soldiers.