Abstract: There is provided a flat cathode ray tube, wherein a plurality of individual thermionic emission cathodes symmetrically arranged at a predetermined equal spacing on a plane parallel to an image display plate, the same plurality of grids, and fluorescent anode portions which emit light by irradiation with the electrons incident therein, are inserted and sealed in a high vacuum envelope whose image display plate is transparent. For use in a color television system, the cathode ray tube further includes a system for deflecting the individual beams to appropriate color spots in the anode. There is further provided a method for manufacturing a thin television picture tube using photolithographic techniques which make possible a tube which is between 1 and 30 millimeters in thickness with the picture area of a conventional tube.