The university was originally founded during King Chulalongkorn's reign as a school for training royal pages and civil servants in 1899 (B.E.

King Chulalongkorn's reforms, aimed at transforming Thailand into a modern state, demanded trained officials specialized in various fields.

As royal pages, they learned how to manage organizations by working closely with the king, which was a traditional way to enter the Siamese bureaucracy.

The college offered eight majors taught by five schools including; King Rama VI realized that education should be provided not only to bureaucrats, but to all people.

Those who managed to enter the university had to spend two years in the Preparatory School before going on to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

[13] The emblem is called Phra Kiao, a Thai coronet, royal headgear for young princes and princesses.

Today, phra kiao appears not only in formal letters and transcripts, but also on souvenirs made by the university as well as student uniforms.

Today, the ordinary uniform for male undergraduate students consists of a plain white shirt with long or short sleeves and black (or dark blue) trousers.

Wearing a dark blue necktie with colored phra kiao engraved on its front is mandatory for first-year students but optional for higher years.

The academic dress of Chulalongkorn University is based on ceremonial attire called khrui, a gown made from very fine mesh.

The gown is faced and lined with a felt strip dyed according to the status of the wearer and decorated with gold ribbons.

[16] The cord (bachelor) or ribbon (master and doctor) dyed with the faculty colour is attached to the centre of the felt strip longitudinally.

[17] Officers' (lecturers, university council members, vice-chancellor and chancellor) gown is faced with a pink strip and centred with a gold thread, regardless of the faculty.

The specially designed gown with a yellow facing is reserved for the king of Thailand, who is also Visitor to the University.

[18] Vajiravudh authorized the university to use the traditional Thai gown instead of the western one,[19] but the regulation on this matter was enacted in 1930 by Prajadhipok.

As the tree produces slimy pods and sheds leaves, the ground beneath it becomes slippery, thus alerting students to prepare for examinations.

Chulalongkorn University consists of 19 faculties, three colleges, one school and many institutes which function as teaching and research units.

The Faculty of Education was established in 1957 from the School of Teacher Training at Baan Somdet Chao Phraya (Thai: โรงเรียนฝึกหัดครู บ้านสมเด็จเจ้าพระยา).

It admits students from two groups: one from northern Thai provinces (Nan, Phayao, Phrae, Uttaradit) and another from the rest of country.

In 2019, aiming to address global industry changes and demand for relevant education, Chulalongkorn University launched Chulalongkorn School of Integrated Innovation (ScII) to offer the first in Asia interdisciplinary undergraduate degree in both arts and science - Bachelor of Arts and Science in Integrated Innovation (BAScii).

Admissions for international students are based on the guidelines issued by the Council of University Presidents of Thailand.