Olympic Rings Meaning

The Olympic games, popularly known as the Olympics, is a major sporting event wherein thousands of athletes from all over the world compete in a variety of sporting events. There are two variants of this international sporting event - Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics, each of which is held alternately after every two years.

Olympic Games History

Modern Olympics, which we see today, was the brain child of Frenchmen, Pierre de Coubertin, who was inspired by the Olympic festivals and decided to revive the games. Many attempts were made to revive the games, but Coubertin's efforts bore fruits in the late 19th century, only because of his sheer persistence. Eventually, the International Olympic Committee was founded in 1894 and the first modern Olympics were held two years later in 1896 in Athens.

Olympic Games Symbols

Broadly the term Olympic games symbols is used to refer to the icons, flags, flame, themes and other symbols which are used by the International Olympic Committee to promote the games, either throughout the year or particularly during the games. The motto of the Olympic games is Citius, Altius, Fortius, which is Latin for 'Faster, Higher, Stronger'. The Olympic emblem is a design created by integrating the Olympic rings with one or more than one distinctive elements. The Olympic torch is taken across the continents to the venue of the games, to light the Olympic flame and mark the beginning of the games. The Olympic flag, which was created by Coubertin himself, sports five interlaced rings on the white background.

Olympic Rings Meaning

The five interlaced rings which are depicted on the Olympic flag are known as the Olympic rings. These design, featuring rings colored blue, yellow, black, green and red interlaced into one another, is basically the symbol of the Olympic games. The Olympic rings were designed by Pierre de Coubertin in 1912. The five rings represented the five parts of the world i.e. the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania. Both the Americas were regarded as a single continent, while Antarctica was not taken into consideration. Though no color is demarcated to a particular continent or region, various theories about the Olympic rings color meaning tend to associate them with various citations. For instance, at least one of the five colors among the Olympic rings is present on the flag of each of the participating countries. The five Olympic rings were adopted in 1914 and made their debut at the Belgium Olympiad in 1920.

When this design was introduced in August 1912, De Coubertin stated the following in the issue of Revue Olympique:
The emblem chosen to illustrate and represent the world Congress of 1914...: five intertwined rings in different colors - blue, yellow, black, green, red - are placed on the white field of the paper. These five rings represent the five parts of the world which now are won over to Olympism and willing to accept healthy competition.

The Olympic rings meaning, according to the International Olympic Committee, is reinforcement of the idea that the Olympic Movement is an international campaign, and all the countries of the world are welcome to join it. Even the Olympic charter acknowledges the significance of Olympic rings stating that they represent the union of the five continents, and the gathering of athletes from around the world at the Olympic Games. There is a strict code pertaining to the use of this symbol which has to be followed in any circumstances. For instance, even if the Olympic rings are depicted on a black background, the black ring shouldn't be substituted by ring of any other color.

Also read

• Ancient Greek Olympics
• List of Olympic Sports

The interlaced Olympic rings stand for unity among the five continents, which come together on a common platform i.e. the Olympic Games. The games which have been organized for over a century now, have had the highs and lows of their own, but the very fact that the games are still popular among all age groups across the world today, speaks in volumes about the illustriousness of the event.