The symbol of the Olympic Games, five interlocking rings, colored blue, yellow, black, green, and red on a white field.
The symbol of the Olympic Games, five interlocking rings, colored blue, yellow, black, green, and red on a white field. The primary symbol of the Olympic Games is composed of five interlocking rings, colored blue, yellow, black, green, and red on a white field, known as the "Olympic rings." The symbol was originally designed in 1912 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, co-founder of the modern Olympic Games. According to Coubertin, the ring colors with the white background stand for those colors that appeared on all the national flags that competed in the Olympic games at that time. Upon its initial introduction, Coubertin stated the following in the August, 1912 edition of Olympique "...the six colors [including the flag’s white background] thus combined reproduce the colors of all the nations, with no exception. The blue and yellow of Sweden, the blue and white of Greece, the tri- colors of France, England and America, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Hungary, the yellow and red of Spain next to the novelties of Brazil or Australia, with old Japan and new China. Here is truly an international symbol." In his article published in the "Olympic Revue" the official magazine of the International Olympic Committee in November 1992, the American historian Robert Barney explains that the idea of the interlaced rings came to Pierre de Coubertin when he was in charge of the USFSA, an association founded by the union of two French sports associations and until 1925, responsible for representing the International Olympic Committee in France: The emblem of the union was two interlaced rings (like the vesica piscis typical interlaced marriage rings) and originally the idea of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung: for him, the ring symbolized continuity and the human being. The 1914 Congress had to be suspended because of the outbreak of World War I, but the symbol and flag were later adopted.
Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, London.
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1912, baron, black, blue, coubertin, de, elizabeth, games, green, interlocking, london, modern, olympic, park, pierre, queen, rings, stratford, symbol, yellow
