A method is disclosed for loading a vector with a processor. The method includes obtaining, by the processor, a variable-length vector load instruction. The method also includes determining that the vector load instruction specifies a vector register for a target, a memory address, and a length, wherein the memory address and the length are each specified in at least a general purpose register. The method also includes determining whether data should be loaded into the vector register using big endian byte-ordering or little endian byte-ordering. The method further includes loading data from memory into the vector register, wherein if the length is less than a length of the vector register, setting one or more residue bytes in the vector register to a pad value, wherein the residue bytes are determined based on the determined byte-ordering.