Hà Nội Flag Tower

It is one of the few architectural works in Hà Nội which were not destroyed by the French administration from 1894 to 1897. The relatively high flag Tower was used by the French troops as an observation tower and communications station between the command post an adjacent military posts. In the daytime, signals were used while at night a system of lights was operated.

Hanoi Flag Tower in the Past

The tower was built in 1812, composed of three lower structures and a tower. The three lower structures are square frustums, smaller at the top, overlapping each other and covered by bricks. The lower structure, 42.5m long each side, is 3.1m high with two brick staircases. The second structure, 27m long each side, is 3.7m high with four doors. The eastern door has two inscribed characters reading “Nghênh Húc” (“welcoming dawn’s sunlight), the western door with “Hội Quang” (light absorbing) and the southern with “Hướng Minh” (facing sunlight).

The northern door has no inscription. The third structure is 12.8m long and 5.1m high with a staircase on the northern side. On top of it stands the tower body, a 18.2m high eight-sided structure that gets smaller to the top. Each side at the bottom is 2m wide. Inside the structure is a 54-step spiral staircase. Light and air to the whole tower come through holes, which are scattered along the sides, each side having from 4 to 5 holes.

Hanoi Flag Tower Now

The peak of the Flag Tower is an eight-sided room, 3.3m high with 8 windows at 8 sides. In the middle of the octagon there is a cylinder 8m in height and 0.4m diameter where the flagpole is placed. The entire Flag Tower is 33.4m high and if the flagpole is included, the Tower is over 4lm high.

Hà Nội Past and Present Nguyen Vinh Phuc - The Gioi Publishers