The flag was originally inspired by Emperor Thành Thái in 1890,[1] and was revived by Lê Văn Đệ and Emperor Bảo Đại, respectively, in 1948.[2] The flag consists of a yellow field and three horizontal red stripes, and can be explained as either emblematic of the common blood running through northern, central, and southern Vietnam, or as representing ☰, the symbol for "south" (as in, south from China (Vietnam itself) and also nam meaning south), in Taoist trigrams.[citation needed]