The student begins with a light blue belt - the same color as his/her suit. He then is a "Võ Sinh", a student aspirant.
Following the light blue is the dark blue belt. Then he/she is a "Môn Sinh", a student.
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Blue stands for the factor of the sea, and the hope - the hope in being successful in learning Vovinam.
With the following 3 exams yellow stripes are added to the blue belt. The 3rd yellow stripe is followed by the yellow belt. The student has reached the instructor's level.
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Yellow It symbolically stands for the skin color of Asian people. It symbolizes the "skin deep" internalization of the martial art and the philosophy.
In other martial arts this belt is black. Therefore a Vovinam student who carries a yellow belt is allowed to carry a black belt. This makes a comparison to other martial arts easier, e.g. in public performances. A person who wears a yellow belt with one or more stripes is considered an instructor.
Following in a longer period of time, respectively 3 red stripes are added to the yellow belt. This corresponds to the 1st, 2nd, respectively 3rd Dang (Dan). The exam following the 3rd red stripe is the master's exam. Passing the exam successfully assigns the right to wear a red belt with a circulating yellow border.
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Red stands for the blood and the intensive flame. The student has internalized Vovinam (Việt Võ Đạo) even further.
The 5th to 10th Dang are shown as a completed red belt with 1 to 6 white stripes.
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White stands for the infiniteness, the bones; is the symbol of the depth of the spirit. The white belt assigns the master the absolute mastery of Vovinam Viêt Võ Dao.
On the white belt thin, lengthwise stripes in blue, yellow and red symbolize the whole of Vovinam (Việt Võ Đạo) again. This belt is reserved for the "Patriarch". 2005 this is Grandmaster Le Sang.
Now, Vovinam has two different sets of belt ranking: one that the U.S. uses and another for Vietnam. The belt set in Vietnam starts with the navy blue belt with no stripe. After three successful exams, the student will advance to the yellow belt. In the U.S, a student would start with the light blue belt and after passing three exams they would advance to the navy blue belt. Like in Vietnam after passing three exams, they shall advance to the yellow belt unless the student is below the age of sixteen. In this case, the student will instead receive the black belt. When they are of age, that is when they will receive the yellow belt.