Vietnamese banknotes have gone through many changes since they first appeared as colonial banknotes.

After King Ho Quy Ly failed to enforce the law on using paper money instead of bronze coins, French Indochines piastre was the first banknote to have appeared in Vietnam. The note was circulated in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The French issued and maintained the notes from 1885 to 1954.

After the August Revolution in 1945, the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was born, and issued the first dong to replace the piastre. The numbers were presented in Vietnamese, Arabic, Chinese, Laotian and Khmer. The notes were circulated from 1946 to 1978.

The Republic of Vietnam in the south also issued its own currency which was in circulation between 1954 and 1975. After reunification day in April 1975, the southern dong lost value and was renamed the "liberation dong".