The country that invaded and overwhelmed the independent nation takes issue with the flag of the fallen nation, "It only rekindles the past hatred and trauma," said the spokesman for the conquering invader.

Doraville Mayor Gene Lively backed the move for the flag, "We thought it was a good idea," he said. "Most fought in the war alongside our people. They weren't asking to replace the American flag. They just wanted a freedom flag that they felt would represent their people.

The Doraville and Norcross proclamations allow the flag to be flown on city property and at city-sponsored events and urge county, state and school officials to pass similar measures. Chamblee Mayor Evelyn Dane Kennedy, who was also approached by the group, decided not to take the issue before the City Council. "To recognize a flag of another country belongs to the State Department," Kennedy said.  She felt recognizing a flag was not an issue for the city.

The flag that is causing such a fuss is indeed a flag of the South, South Vietnam, a flag with a yellow field and three horizontal red stripes, a flag of Heritage and Honor. Baoky Vu, is leading the flag-change effort in metro Atlanta. Vu was 8 years old when he fled Vietnam in 1975 with his family to Australia before coming to the United States.

The push to recognize the flag of the former government of South Vietnam "is not consistent with the current bilateral relations," said Bach Ngoc Chien, a spokesman for the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington. The debate has also drawn in the State Department. Vietnamese-Americans have embraced the Stars and Stripes, but they still must remind future generations "why we are here in the first place," he said. He wants to spread the message that the people of Vietnam live in a country "where they can't say anything, where they don't have any voice. No freedom of speech." But in the land of the free Big Brother is still watching, earlier this year, a proposed Virginia law would have required school boards, colleges and all state-sponsored events to fly the standard of the former South Vietnamese government instead of the flag of the current Communist government of Vietnam.

The measure was dropped after jack-booted; arm-twisting State Department officials wailed it could damage relations between Washington and Hanoi. But a similar bill in Louisiana was signed into law in July. Senate Bill 839 says Vietnamese refugees should be honored by allowing only the old South Vietnam flag to fly at schools and state-sponsored events. The measure passed the House 91-7 and the Senate 32-3 despite concerns it could offend the current leaders of Vietnam and affect trade or other relationships. 

Many remember the Communist government that took over in 1975, and they don't want to be associated with its flag.

"We left our country [with] nothing, everything was behind us. The only thing we bring with us is that flag. That's the soul, our soul". said Tom Nguyen, a Chamblee real estate agent. While the debate threatens the burgeoning relationship between Washington and Hanoi, the move has had the opposite effect within the Vietnamese community in metro Atlanta.

Woody Highsmith, a longtime heritage activist, lives in Augusta and he's a volunteer member of the Georgia Heritage Coalition.