The Association of Southeast Asian Nations was established on August 8, 1967, following the signing of the Bangkok Declaration by founding members Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
Earlier regional groups such as the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization and the Association of Southeast Asia were hampered by limitations in scope and membership before ASEAN set guiding principles for regional cohesion.
The first-ever ASEAN Summit took place in Bali, Indonesia, from February 23-24, 1976, spanning a period of roughly nine years after the bloc’s formation. The summit was convened by Indonesian President Soeharto, Malaysian Prime Minister Hussein Onn, Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, and Thai Prime Minister Kukrit Pramoj.
Later on, ASEAN embraced official and legally binding accords, which included the 1976 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia alongside the 1995 Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone.
Following its establishment, the bloc welcomed Brunei Darussalam on January 7, 1984; Viet Nam on July 28, 1995; Lao PDR and Myanmar on July 23, 1997; Cambodia on April 30, 1999; and Timor-Leste on October 26, 2025. Prior to Timor-Leste joining, 10 member states inked the ASEAN Charter on November 20, 2007. Oversight and guidance are managed by the ASEAN Coordinating Council alongside three community councils: the ASEAN Political-Security Community Council, the ASEAN Economic Community Council, and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Council.
The organization’s original logo featured five brown sheaves of rice stalks representing the founding members on a yellow background with a blue border. During the bloc’s 30th anniversary in 1997, the design was updated to increase the sheaves in number to symbolize all ten Southeast Asian countries, changing them to a yellow color set on a red background encircled with a white and blue border.