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Flying the flag

John Millen

The Olympic symbol

When Baron Pierre de Coubertin reinvented the Olympic Games he wanted everything about the presentation to be perfect.

De Coubertin was an excellent organiser and paid great attention to what the world would think of the new Olympics. His vision included a special flag that would represent the ideas behind the new Games.

The flag design that De Coubertin came up with almost 100 years ago is still the most powerful image of the Olympic movement. The Olympic flag has a white background, with five interlaced rings in the centre: blue, yellow, black, green and red.

The rings represent the five continents of the world brought together by the Olympic Games. The Olympic Committee officially adopted De Coubertin's flag in 1914, but the flag wasn't actually used as part of an Olympiad until the 1920 Games in Antwerp.

Questions

1 Baron Pierre de Coubertin thought of the idea of an Olympic flag himself. (true/false)

2 The Olympic flag is five rings on a black background. (true/false)

A dramatic moment

The arrival of the Olympic flag in the main stadium of the Games is one of the most dramatic moments of the Olympics opening ceremony.

At the 1960 Games in Rome, the carrying of the flag was changed so that it made a greater impact. The flag is now held horizontally by a group of specially chosen athletes, one person holding each of the four corners and others holding the middle edges. After its arrival, the Olympic flag is hoisted up the flag pole where it will fly for the duration of the Games.

When it is lowered during the closing ceremony, the Olympic Games for that year are completed. The mayor of the host city passes the flag to the mayor of the city that will host the next Olympics in four years' time. The Olympics are over, but they have just begun again somewhere else.

Questions

3 The Olympic flag is carried into the stadium during the opening ceremony by the Olympic Committee. (true/false)

4 The Olympic flag flies for the duration of the Games. (true/false)

Those Olympic rings

How did Baron Pierre de Coubertin think up the Five Rings logo, one of the oldest and most powerful publicity symbols anyone has ever designed? Besides working with the Olympic movement at the beginning of the 20th century, De Coubertin was in charge of the Union of French Athletic Societies whose logo was two joined rings.

De Coubertin thought it would be a good idea to build on this design and show five rings that represented the five main regions of the world.

The five colours De Coubertin chose appeared most frequently on world maps. The Olympic rings are the closely-guarded property of the International Olympic Committee and are protected by copyright laws. Nobody is allowed to use the Olympic rings in advertising or publicity without permission.

Questions

5 De Coubertin got the idea of the five rings Olympic symbol from the emblem of a French athletics organisation. (true/false)

6 He used his personal favourite colours for the rings. (true/false)

Olympic Fact File

Here are six facts about the Olympic Flag. Copy the four true facts into your Olympic Fact File.

1 The Olympic flag is a copy of the flag used for the Ancient Greek Olympics.

2 The Olympic Committee decided to use De Coubertin's flag in 1914.

3 The colours of the five rings on the Olympic flag are blue, yellow, black, green and red.

4 The colours of the five rings on the Olympic flag always appear in the same order.

5 The Olympic flag was first used at the 1920 Games in Belgium.

6 During the closing ceremony of the Games, the flag is carried out of the stadium by a group of athletes.

Answers

1. true / 2. false / 3. false / 4. true / 5. true / 6. false

Fact file: 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

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