Cardinal's coat of arms and Episcopal Insigna

1. The yellow Cross represents the incarnation of Jesus who saved us.
2. The blue colour represents the sea of Vietnam and the ocean is the symbol of the infinite love of a mother for her children.
3. The star represents Mary, Stella Maris, the Mother who leads the pilgrims through the road of hope.
4. The three mountains and the ocean – water and the land – represent Northern, Central and Southern Vietnam that remain anchored in Mary’s love.
5. The ten branches of bamboo represent the Ten Commandments, and the Shepherd lives the Commandments and guides the faithful in the light of the Gospel. In Vietnamese Culture, the bamboo is a symbol of strength, resistance, courage, integrity and justice. The emptiness of the interior symbolizes altruism, welcoming and hospitality.
6. The torches below represent the light and joy of the hope expressed in the motto Gaudium et Spes.

“I managed to get a piece of wood from a guard. I cut the cross and kept it hidden in a piece of soap until my release. With a metal frame, this piece of wood became my pectoral cross.

To another guard I said: I wish I had a piece of electrical wire to cut into pieces the size of a matchstick to make a chain to carry my cross.” From the book “Five loaves and two fish”.

Card. Van Thuân has engraved on his episcopal ring:

“todo pasa” (St. Teresa of Jesus, Nada te turbe).

Everything is relative, everything passes. Only God remains and only He is enough.