The Story behind the 1963 Iconic Photo

In June of 1963, Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc burned himself to death at a busy intersection in Saigon.

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He was attempting to show that to fight all forms of oppression on equal terms, Buddhism too, needed to have its martyrs.

John F. Kennedy said in reference to a photograph of Duc on fire: “No news picture in history has generated so much emotion around the world as that one”.

Photographer Malcolm Browne captured the scene in Saigon for the Associated Press, and the stark black and white image quickly became an iconic visual of the turbulent 1960s.

The self-immolation was done in protest of the South Vietnamese Diem regime’s pro-catholic policies and discriminatory Buddhist laws.

In particular, this was a response to the banning of the Buddhist flag, just 2 days after Diem had held a very public ceremony displaying crosses; earlier in his rule, he had dedicated Vietnam to Jesus and the Catholic Church.

The growing resentment of Buddhists under Diem was one of the underlying issues of South Vietnam and eventually led to a coup to put in place a leader who would not alienate Buddhists, who made up 70-90% of Vietnam’s population.

Buddhist discontent erupted following a ban in early May on flying the Buddhist flag in Hu on Vesak, the birthday of Gautama Buddha.

A large crowd of Buddhists protested the ban, defying the government by flying Buddhist flags on Vesak and marching on the government broadcasting station. Government forces fired into the crowd of protesters, killing nine people.

On 10 June 1963, U.S. correspondents were informed that “something important” would happen the following morning on the road outside the Cambodian embassy in Saigon.