Flag of ASEAN
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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.
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.
The preceding flag was adopted on 23 July 1994 at the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok.
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.
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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:
The ratio of width to length of the flag is 2:3. The ASEAN Charter includes size specifications for usage of the flag:
- Table flag: 10 cm x 15 cm
- Room flag: 100 cm x 150 cm
- Car flag: 20 cm x 30 cm
- Field flag: 200 cm x 300 cm
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 at the time of the current flag's adoption. Blue represents peace and stability, red represents courage and dynamism, white represents purity, and yellow represents prosperity.
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.
The circle represents the unity of ASEAN.