Flag of ASEAN

Last updated

Flag of Association of Southeast Asian Nations
ASEAN Flag.svg
The ASEAN Flag
Proportion2:3
Adopted31 May 1997 (current iteration)
DesignThe ASEAN Emblem on a blue background.

The Flag of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or the ASEAN Flag [1] is one of the official symbols of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). [2] It consists of the official emblem of ASEAN on a blue background.

Contents


History

The ASEAN flag features the organization's logo or emblem. The logo is a winning entry of a design competition held from 1977 to 1978. The symbol was created by Mohammad Radzi Hanif, then a design student from the MARA Institute of Technology of Malaysia. [3]

ASEAN's first flag was similar to the current one – it had six paddy stalks representing the five founding members (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand), plus Brunei Darussalam (joined on 7 January 1984) and the word ASEAN written under the stalks. The background was white instead of blue, the border of the circle along with the word ASEAN was cyan, and the circle was bright yellow. The stalks themselves were golden brownish in colour.[ citation needed ]

The preceding flag was adopted in 23 July 1994 at the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok. [4] [5]

The current flag with the blue field was adopted on 31 May 1997 at the Special Meeting of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers in Kuala Lumpur. [6] [7]

ASEAN Flag (1984).svg
FIAV historical.svg First Flag of ASEAN
(7 January 1984 – 23 July 1994)
ASEAN Flag (1994).svg
FIAV historical.svg Second Flag of ASEAN
(23 July 1994 – 31 May 1997)

Design

Construction

Set upon a blue background, ten paddy or rice stalks are drawn in the middle of a red circle with white circumference.

The colours of the flag are specified as follows: [8] [9]

SchemeBlueRedYellowWhite
Pantone Pantone 286Pantone Red 032Pantone Process YellowPlain White
RGB Approx.#0032A0 [10] #EF3340 [11] #F8E600 [12] #FFFFFF
CMYK Approx.100, 80, 0, 12 [10] 0, 90, 76, 0 [11] 0, 0, 100, 0 [12] 0, 0, 0, 0
ASEAN flag in front of the Central Post Office building in Manila. Flag of Asean, Philippine Post Office.jpg
ASEAN flag in front of the Central Post Office building in Manila.
The ASEAN flag is flown alongside the national flag of Vietnam at the Vietnamese Embassy in Belgium. Ixelles - Ambassade du Viet Nam 20190908-02.jpg
The ASEAN flag is flown alongside the national flag of Vietnam at the Vietnamese Embassy in Belgium.

The ratio of width to length of the flag is 2:3. The ASEAN Charter includes size specifications for usage of the flag: [13]

Symbolism

The official symbolism of the flag is detailed in the ASEAN Charter.

The colours of the flag – blue, red, white, and yellow – represent the main colours of the national flags of all ASEAN member states [a] at the time of the current flag's adoption. [13] Blue represents peace and stability, red represents courage and dynamism, white represents purity, and yellow represents prosperity. [13]

The stalks of rice represent the dream of ASEAN's Founding Fathers for an ASEAN comprising all the countries in Southeast Asia bound together in friendship and solidarity. The number of stalks symbolize ASEAN's ten members at the time of the current flag's adoption. [9]

The circle represents the unity of ASEAN. [9]

Notes

  1. ↑ Timor Leste, the eleventh member joined ASEAN in October 2025. The ASEAN Charter is dated 2007 when there were still ten members.

References

  1. ↑ "ASEAN Flag". ASEAN Main Portal. ASEAN . Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  2. ↑ Flags of the world
  3. ↑ The Story Behind the ASEAN Logo – An Interview with the Designer Mohammad Radzi Hanif. ASEAN Foundation. 8 August 2020. Archived from the original on 1 May 2023 – via YouTube.
  4. ↑ "The ASEAN Journey". ASEAN Main Portal. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  5. ↑ "Joint Communique of the Twenty-Seventh ASEAN Ministerial Meeting Bangkok, 22–23 July 1994 - "The World and Japan" Database". The World and Japan Database. National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  6. ↑ "Guidelines for the ASEAN Flag & Logo". ASEAN Main Portal. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  7. ↑ "International Organizations A-L". worldstatesmen.org. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  8. ↑ "ASEAN Flag Annex". ASEAN Main Portal. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  9. 1 2 3 "Annex 3 – ASEAN FLAG" (PDF). ASEAN.
  10. 1 2 "PANTONE® 286 C – Find a Pantone Color | Quick Online Color Tool | Pantone". 12 May 2021. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  11. 1 2 "PANTONE® Red 032 C – Find a Pantone Color | Quick Online Color Tool | Pantone". 16 September 2021. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  12. 1 2 "PANTONE® Process Yellow C – Find a Pantone Color | Quick Online Color Tool | Pantone". 27 July 2021. Archived from the original on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2025.
  13. 1 2 3 ASEAN Charter
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.