The Olympic flag
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The Olympic flag
The Olympic flag has a plain white background with no border. In the centre are five rings forming two rows of three rings above and two below. The rings of the upper row are, from left to right, blue, black and red. The rings of the lower row are yellow and green.
The rings are thought to symbolise the five continents: Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and America. It is widely believed that the colours of the rings were chosen because at least one of them can be found in the flag of every nation, though this has never been confirmed as the intention of the designer.
The flag was presented by Games founder Baron de Coubertin at the 1914 Olympic Congress, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the founding of the IOC. It was first flown in Alexandria, Greece, but made its Olympic debut at the 1920 Antwerp Games. This well-worn flag was finally retired after the 1984 Games, and a new one flown at the 1988 Seoul Games.
At the Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic Games, the mayor of the current Olympic host city presents the flag to the mayor of the next host city. The flag is then kept in the town hall of the host city until the next Olympic Games.
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