The video, circulated on social media, shows the man ripping the flag off a telegraph pole in the Sydney suburb of Marrickville, a day after the April 30 National Day of Mourning to mark the end of the Vietnam War.
The man is then seen stamping on the flag, before chanting “burn the flag” in Vietnamese.
The flag is popular amongst overseas Vietnamese communities, including the thousands of refugees who fled to Australia following the Vietnam War.
It served as the national flag of the former State of Vietnam, and its successor, the Republic of Vietnam from 1949 until the conclusion of the Vietnam War when the Communist regime took power.
The screenshot of the man taking the flag. Source: Supplied
NSW Police confirmed that an 18-year-old man was issued an infringement notice for stealing over the incident, but the Vietnamese Community in Australia (VCA) believes the punishment doesn’t go far enough.
“The Yellow Flag is a historic symbol of Vietnamese refugees in Australia. It’s not just a normal property of someone, so when the boy pulled down the flag, it insults all Vietnamese refugees,” VCA Vice President Kate Hoang said.
Ms Hoang confirmed that a meeting was set between the group and NSW Police on Tuesday over the “hate crime”.
A petition formed by the VCA and addressed to Immigration Minister Alex Hawke is calling for the individual to be stripped of his student visa over the "public desecration" of the flag.
The petition has so far received more than 8000 signatures.
“The disgraceful actions were deliberate acts to disrespect the Yellow Flag and to insult the Vietnamese Community in Australia,” the petition reads.
As a multicultural and democratic society, it goes against the Australian ethos and values and has deeply harmed and hurt the Vietnamese Community in Australia.
There are more than 294,000 people of Vietnamese ancestry living in Australia, according to the 2016 census, with the bulk of them born in Vietnam.
More than 80,000 Vietnamese people moved to Australia in the decade following the Vietnam War, many as refugees.
A number of councils across Australia recognise the Yellow Flag of South Vietnam and fly it to commemorate the refugee communities living in those local government areas.
In 2017, a move by the Port Adelaide Enfield Council to fly the flag sparked a strong reaction from the government of Vietnam, which sent a letter requesting it “cease the implementation of such an inappropriate decision”.
Also, in that year, a decision by the Fairfield City Council to hoist the flag saw the Vietnamese government raise the issue with then-Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
At the time, Ms Bishop said state and local jurisdictions were not bound at law by the Australian Government Flag Protocol, according to
SBS Vietnamese has contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for comment about local councils raising the flag.
This station has also reached out to the Embassy of Vietnam in Australia about the man's student status and next moves.
