All national associations are legally constituted bodies in their own rights, but in an effort to unite the national associations, an international association was created in 1948 which is also legally constituted. It’s name is Round Table International (RTI) and it is run by an elected president and vice-president and several other elected board members. It was dis-banded in 1961 and only re-started 30 years later in 1991.
The important aspects of each member of RTI that unites them all is that they should all observe the following basic principles:
- To use the words “Round Table” in their association name;
- To use the rondel as their emblem, although the centrepiece varies from one country to the next;
- To stay a young man’s organisation with a maximum age rule of either 40 or 45;
- To adopt the same aims and objects;
- To allow members of one country to become members of another.
For ease of co-ordination, and because RT has spread into every continent, RTI is divided into 5 Regions.
Each of the 5 regions has an annual regional meeting during which it elects a chairman and a vice-chairman, of which the chairman become members of the RTI Board.