What is the meaning of the Five Olympic Rings?
There are seven "official" versions of the Olympic rings.
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Olympic flag (Image via Olympics.com)
The Olympics have been around for over a hundred years, with the first ever modern Olympics being held in 1896. The Olympic rings, however, made their first debut to the public in 1913. The Olympic flag was raised for the first time at the Antwerp Olympics in 1920.
The Olympics flag consists of five interlaced rings of equal dimensions in 5 colors, blue, yellow, black, green and red (left to right). While the blue, black and red rings are at the top, the yellow and green rings are at the bottom, interlaced with the other rings.
These rings represent five continents at the time Olympic games started – Africa, Asia, America, Europe, and Oceania. There is no additional ring for Antarctica.
Pierre de Coubertin was the creator of the first design of the famous Olympic Rings. He said that the design he created was symbolic. He created the rings to represent all five continents, which were united by Olympism.
Meaning of the Five Olympic Rings – Unity
The Olympic rings symbolize unity between all continents and nations who participate. However, each color on the rings does not represent a particular continent. Instead, the five colors, along with the white background on Olympic flag was said to represent the flags of all nations during that time.
The Olympic symbol expresses the activity of the Olympic Movement and represents the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world at the Olympic Games.states Olympic Charter, Rule 8
Unbeknownst to many, there are seven ‘official’ versions of the Olympic rings. The most used and widely known one is the fully colored rings placed on a white background.
There are also monochrome rings, which are an alternative to the full color Olympic flag rings. The Olympic rings can appear in any of the six official colors to represent the Olympics at all times.
In 2010, the International Olympic Committee introduced a version with a 3D effect. The colors and arrangement stayed the same, but the presentation became more redefined. However, the more widely known version of the interlocked blue, yellow, black, green, and red rings on a white background remain the most used one.
FAQs
There are five rings in the Olympics logo.
The five rings signify the five human inhabited continents of the world.
The colors of the Olympic rings are blue, yellow, black, green and red.
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Saivee Phatak
(1164 Articles Published)