Five interlaced rings on white: Pierre de Coubertin chose those six colours because together they were on the flags of the world.
Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
SportingFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.
It is a rectangular field with a 2:3 ratio, white, with five interlaced rings in the centre.
Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.
Every date in its story, at a glance.
Coubertin drew the rings in 1913
The design was presented in 1914, but the First World War delayed its premiere
It is the flag of the International Olympic Committee and it flies at all the Olympic Games since…
In winter, Oslo’s passed from one Games to the next from 1952 until 2014
In summer Antwerp’s was used until Seoul’s replaced it in 1988
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The Olympic flag is white with five interlaced coloured rings. It is the flag of the International Olympic Committee and it flies at all the Olympic Games since Antwerp 1920. It was drawn by Pierre de Coubertin, the Frenchman who revived the Games.
Coubertin drew the rings in 1913. The five rings stood for the five parts of the world that were already taking part in the Olympic movement. The design was presented in 1914, but the First World War delayed its premiere.
The flag was hoisted for the first time at a Games, at the opening ceremony of Antwerp 1920, in Belgium.
The design has not changed since 1914. What changes are the cloth flags: at each closing ceremony, the mayor of the host city hands a ceremonial flag to the mayor of the next. In summer Antwerp’s was used until Seoul’s replaced it in 1988, and that one served until 2012. In winter, Oslo’s passed from one Games to the next from 1952 until 2014.
Five rings
the five parts of the world united by the Olympic movement.
Six colours
the five of the rings plus the white of the background. According to Coubertin, with them you could draw the flag of any country: Sweden’s, Greece’s, France’s, the United Kingdom’s, the United States’, Germany’s, Belgium’s, Italy’s, Hungary’s, Spain’s, Brazil’s, Australia’s, Japan’s, China’s…
No continent has its colour
it is a very widespread idea, but Coubertin never assigned a colour to each continent.
In 1920 the American high jumper Hal Haig Prieste took the Antwerp flag away as a souvenir. He kept it for 77 years and returned it in 1997, when he was 103.
The rings were presented in 1914, but the 1916 Games were cancelled by the First World War and the flag had to wait until 1920.
For decades there were two ceremonial flags at once: one for the Summer Games and another, Oslo’s, for the Winter Games.
Buy the flag on AmazonAffiliate link: if you buy, Wiki Banderas receives a small commission.
Test what you have read about the flag of Olympic Games.
Text based on the article “Olympic flag (Wikipedia en inglés)” from the Spanish Wikipedia, published under the licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Original author: Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937), Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
