Crowds of South Vietnamese have been jostling for national flags in Saigon shops following an official order that every citizen over 15 years of age must carry a flag, and each family must own at least two.

With ceasefire rumours spreading, the national flag--yellow, with three thin red stripes--is already being painted on many Saigon houses. Flags are else appearing in car windows and being displayed on lorries, shops and restaurants.

The demand is so high that many Chinese textile factories in Saigon have stopped making fabrics and are turning out flags instead.

On Friday (27 October) President Thieu banned the display of the Viet Cong flag and warned that anyone ignoring his order would face a military court and a possible death sentence. Among other things, the decree stipulated that adults must produce a South Vietnamese flag when asked for identity card checks.

On the same day that President Thieu issued his decree, he assured a rally of one-thousand of his supporters that any peace agreement must bear his signature.

He told his supporters who had marched through the streets into his presidential palace that any agreement not having his signature would not apply to South Vietnam.