Lạc bird (, ) is a

mythical creature A legendary creature is a type of extraordinary or supernatural being that is described in folklore (including myths and legends), and may be featured in historical accounts before modernity, but has not been scientifically shown to exist. In t ...

Vietnamese culture The culture of Vietnam (, vi-hantu, 文化越南) are the customs and traditions of the Vietnamese people, Kinh people and the other Vietnamese ethnic groups, ethnic groups of Vietnam. Vietnam is part of Southeast Asia and the Sinosphere due ...

and a national bird of

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

Appearance

The Lạc bird is depicted with outstretched wings and a long beak. This image symbolizes the aspiration to reach the dream of conquering challenges regardless of challenges of the Vietnamese people.

Terminology

The meaning of the word ''Lạc'' itself is debatable. A theory suggests that it might come from the term "''lạc điền''", meaning waterfield, and so ''Lạc bird'' would mean waterfield bird. The word is also translated as "lost" in modern

Vietnamese language Vietnamese () is an Austroasiatic languages, Austroasiatic language Speech, spoken primarily in Vietnam where it is the official language. It belongs to the Vietic languages, Vietic subgroup of the Austroasiatic language family. Vietnamese is s ...

, which could be a metaphor to the Vietnamese history. During the

Hồng Bàng dynasty The Hồng Bàng period (), also called the Hồng Bàng dynasty,Pelley, p. 151 was a legendary ancient period in Vietnamese historiography, spanning from the beginning of the rule of Kinh Dương Vương over the kingdom of Văn Lang (initia ...

, the word ''lạc'' was used as part of different terms such as Lạc Việt (Luoyue), Lạc Vương (King of the Lạc), Lạc hầu (Marquis of the Lạc), Lạc tướng (General of the Lạc), and Lạc dân (Lạc people).

Origin and species identification

Images of Lạc bird appears on the surfaces of the Đông Sơn

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, one of the objects that were made thousands of years ago, during the era of Văn Lang-

Âu Lạc Âu Lạc (chữ Hán: 甌貉 (Peripheral Records/Volume 1:6a): "王既併文郎國，改國號曰甌貉國。""The King then annexed the Văn Lang nation, changed the nation's name to Âu Lạc nation."/甌駱; (Volume 113): "且南方卑濕� ...

. Despite its aged existence, no one really sure what species the Lạc bird actually is. Based on its appearance, Lạc bird could be another version of the Chinese

Fenghuang ''Fenghuang'' () are mythological birds featuring in traditions throughout the Sinosphere. ''Fenghuang'' are understood to reign over all other birds: males and females were originally termed ''feng'' and ''huang'' respectively, but a gender ...

, or a sketchy drawing of the

stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons and ibise ...

egret Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build ...

, crane,

pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...

teal alt=American teal duck (male), Green-winged teal (male) Teal is a greenish-blue color. Its name comes from that of a bird—the Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca'')—which presents a similarly colored stripe on its head. The word is often used ...

, or

great hornbill The great hornbill (''Buceros bicornis''), also known as the concave-casqued hornbill, great Indian hornbill or great pied hornbill, is one of the larger members of the hornbill family. It occurs in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. I ...

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Phoenix (mythology) The phoenix is a Legendary creature, legendary immortal bird that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again. Originating in Greek mythology, it has analogs in many cultures, such as Egyptian mythology, Egyptian and Persian mythology. Ass ...

National symbols of Vietnam The national symbols of Vietnam are official and unofficial flags, icons or cultural expressions that are emblematic, representative or otherwise characteristic of Vietnam and of its culture. Symbol References {{Asia topic, ...

Vietnamese Dragon Vietnamese dragons (; ; Sino-Vietnamese: ''Long''; ) are symbolic creatures in Vietnamese folklore and mythology. According to an ancient origin myth, the Vietnamese people are descended from a dragon and an Immortal. The dragon was symbolic o ...

Vietnamese mythology Vietnamese mythology () comprises folklore, national myths, legends, or fairy tales from the Vietnamese people with aspects of folk religion in Vietnam. Vietnamese folklore and oral traditions may have also been influenced by historical conta ...

National symbols of Vietnam Vietnamese folk culture Vietnamese mythology Religion in Vietnam Birds in mythology

References

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