What Does It Meant By Olympic Rings?

Editorials News | Oct-15-2019

What Does It Meant By Olympic Rings?

In the year 1894, Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin who is a French aristocrat and an intellectual who previously attempted incorporating more physical education within schools convened a congress in the city of Paris with the ultimate goal of reviving the old ancient Olympic Games which is an idea that was first introduced at a USFSA meeting in the year 1889. The congress further agreed on proposals for conducting a modern Olympics, and after then the International Olympic Committee was formalized and was given the task of conducting the 1896 Athens Games.
After 1912, Stockholm Games which were the first Games that featured athletes from all five inhabited segments of the world—a design board of five interlocked rings were drawn and colored by the hands, appeared at the top of a letter Coubertin which he sent to a colleague. A year later, it was seen as the official Olympic symbol.
The rings were supposed to be used on flags and further signage at the 1916 Games, but the games were furthermore cancelled because of the on-going cruel World War. The rings afterwards made a belated debut at the 1920 Games in the Antwerp, Belgium.
Coubertin later on explained his design in the year 1931:
"A white background, consisting of five interlaced rings in the centre: blue, yellow, black, green and red ... is the symbolic; it represents the inhabited continents of the world which are five in number, and which are united by Olympism, while the six colors in it are those which appear on all the national flags of the world at the current time."
Coubertin took a loose interpretation of "continent" in his explanation and included Africa, Americas, Oceania, Asia and Europe. However, he never told nor wrote that any specific ring represents a specific continent.
The reason behind this the rings were originally made as a logo for the IOC's 20th anniversary and became a symbol for the Olympics.

By: Prerana Sharma
Content: http://mentalfloss.com/article/31263/what-do-olympic-rings-mean


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