When Chinese dignitaries visited Vietnam, the Vietnamese were determined to put on a show that would help rebuild the relationship between the two countries. Regrettably, the scores of flags that were put on display were incorrect.

When China’s Vice President Xi Jinping visited Vietnam, the sea of flags that were flown to greet him were of one large star encircled by five smaller stars on a red background. The correct flag should have had only four stars surrounding one large star on a red background. The incident has caused considerable humiliation for the Vietnamese government.

While there has been no official comment from either country, the internet has been awash with complaints about the blunder. The visit was meant to shore up the tense relationships between both countries which have come to the fore again due to anxieties in the South China Sea.

Both countries have a dispute that has long been festering about the Paracel and Spratly island groups in the South China Sea which are crucial to shipping lanes and are situated in oil-rich waters.

“We must end the activities of those selling the Vietnamese fatherland, looking to make Vietnam the fifth star of China,” one person wrote on the dissident site Dan Lam Bao, which translates as ‘citizen journalism.’

Another said, “The Vietnamese Communist Party wants to become a second-class Chinese citizen. This is a damned flag for the Vietnamese people.”

To celebrate their country’s Independence Day, Wearside’s Bangladeshi community in Sunderland celebrated with a flag raising ceremony.

The celebrations were started at Sunderland Bangladeshi Community Centre in Tatham Street, Hendon, where a day of activities was preceded by a flag-raising ceremony.

The festivities were held on December 16th in recognition of the day the country became independent from Pakistani forces in 1971 following a nine-month struggle. The country’s official national day is celebrated on 26th March.

Speaking to the Sunderland Echo, Abu Shama, Bangladeshi Centre manager, said that for the 4,000-strong members of the Bangladeshi community, the flag-raising ceremony played an important role in their lives.

“We are remembering the sacrifices which were made by people in Bangladesh to get independence all those years ago,” he said. “The raising of the flags is a show of respect for what they did.”

The community centre carried on the celebrations with an education and community day, where key members of the community gave speeches and members of the public heard a selection of songs and traditional poetry.

In contrast to the revelry in Sunderland, the celebrations in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, commenced with a 31 gun salute at dawn.

In a move that has surprised many people, President Jose Mujica of Uruguay, has declared that any vessel bearing the flag of the Falkland Islands will not be permitted to come to shore in Uruguay.

The ban on the flags has perplexed Merco Press, and industry insiders said that the decision is all the more unexpected as Uruguay have been trading peacefully with the Falklands for many decades.

As there has not been a variation in the international regulations on flags, this cannot be the reason for President Mujica’s decision. Merco Press was told by one expert “The Falklands flag remains an internationally recognised registry.”

The Falkland Islands membership is currently rated as ‘Category 2′ which they have held since 1861, and the country is a member of the Red Ensign Group Register, and operates as an Overseas Territory of the UK.

The British ambassador to Montevideo, Patrick Mullee, will be meeting with Uruguay’s Foreign Affairs minister, Luis Almagro, to discuss the situation. The defence of the islands and its foreign affairs is now the responsibility of the UK.

In order to obtain an explanation, the Foreign Office has requested that the Uruguayan ambassador provides “clarifications” regarding the Falklands flag.