Back جيش العلم الأسود Arabic Qara Bayraq Ordusu AZ Banderes negres Catalan Schwarze Flaggen German Ĉina Nigroflaga Armeo EO Ejército de la Bandera Negra Spanish Pavillons noirs French Pasukan Bendera Hitam ID Esercito della bandiera nera Italian 黒旗軍 Japanese
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| Black Flag Army | |
|---|---|
| 黑旗軍 · Quân cờ đen · 軍旗黰 | |
 Possible reconstruction of a Black Flag Army's command flag | |
| Active | 1860s–1885 |
| Countries | China, Vietnam |
| Allegiance | Qing dynasty, Nguyễn dynasty |
| Engagements | Garnier Expedition Tonkin campaign Sino-French War Pacification of Tonkin |
| Commanders | |
| Commander | Liu Yongfu |
The Black Flag Army (Chinese: 黑旗軍; pinyin: Hēiqí Jūn; Vietnamese: Quân cờ đen, chữ Nôm: 軍旗黰) was a splinter remnant of a bandit and mercenary group recruited largely from soldiers of ethnic Zhuang background and former Taiping soldiers who crossed the border in 1865 from Guangxi, China into northern Vietnam, during the Nguyễn dynasty, and were hired and sponsored by Vietnamese authorities to fight against other bandits and rebels. Although brigands, they were known mainly for their fights against the invading French forces, who were then moving into Tonkin (northern Vietnam). The Black Flag Army is so named because of the preference of its commander, Liu Yongfu, for using black command flags.
The army was officially disbanded in 1885 as a result of the Treaty of Tientsin between France and China. However, remnants of the army continued to wage a guerrilla war against French colonial authorities for years. With the sanction of both Vietnamese and Chinese authorities, the Black Flags joined the Vietnamese irregular forces, stemming French encroachment beyond the Red River Delta.