What do Olympic circles mean? What do the colors of the Olympic rings mean? What do the colors of the Olympic rings mean?

Agree, we are accustomed to taking some events for granted, without really thinking about the history of their occurrence or their characteristic features.

Perhaps the Olympics should be considered a similar global event. But every time sports competitions of this kind attract the attention of not even hundreds, but hundreds of thousands of devoted sports fans around the world.

Incredibly, they have been held for 118 years, and now both the fire and the rings of the Olympic Games are already commonly perceived.

What do these symbols mean and why did they become iconic? Perhaps not every modern person can answer this question.

Section 1. Olympics today

In general, the Olympics should be understood as a sporting event of an international scale in which thousands of athletes from different countries compete.

There are summer and winter Olympic Games, held alternately every two years. That is, purely theoretically, it can be calculated that events of this kind are organized only in even-numbered years. And if in 2014 the Olympics were winter, then the next, already summer, will be held in 2016. By the way, according to the decision of a special commission, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) has been entrusted with hosting it.

Section 2. Five rings of the Olympic Games as the main symbol of the competition

A white flag with characteristic symbols... At a certain moment, as if by magic, it appears everywhere: on buildings, on sports and casual clothing, interior items and even on children's toys.

The snow-white background symbolizes world peace. And this is far from accidental, because for a long time during the Olympics, military actions and conflicts stopped and are stopping throughout the planet.

The number and colors of the Olympic Games rings placed on the flag are also very thoughtful. They are colored yellow, blue, black, red and green.

First of all, we note that the rings of the Olympic Games symbolize the five continents of the planet: America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania. Why is this so, since the globe consists of six? The fact is that Antarctica and the Arctic, due to their uninhabitation, were not taken into account when developing the symbol.

Oh those Olympic rings! What they mean was invented a little later. Today, even schoolchildren can tell that each part of the world is correlated with its own specific color. Europe corresponds to blue, Africa - black, America - red, Asia - yellow, Oceania - green.

Section 3. Emblem of the Olympic Games: rings and the history of their origin

This symbolic sign was developed in 1912 by Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games. The emblem was adopted in 1914, although it should be noted that it debuted much later, only in 1920, at the Olympics in Belgium. It was originally planned that the world would see the flag adorned with the new symbol in 1916, but the First World War prevented major sporting events from taking place.

It is hardly worth mentioning that immediately after their appearance, the rings were liked and became an integral attribute of the Olympics. In subsequent years they were used to create various logos related to the Games.

Section 4. Has the symbol been modernized?

Oddly enough, yes. And the Olympic rings underwent the biggest changes at the 1936 Olympics, held in the German capital Berlin.

Firstly, the rings were not arranged in two rows as usual, but in one. Their location is slightly similar to the traditional one due to the fact that the first, third and fifth of them were raised compared to the second and fourth.

Secondly, both the rings and the eagle holding them were made in black and white. In subsequent years, the monochrome version of the Olympic Games logo was used quite often, but the arrangement was no longer changed.

In 1960, in Italy, artists made the symbol of the Olympic Games - the rings - three-dimensional. It was made in gray color. The rings were located under the Roman she-wolf, which, according to legend, suckled Romulus and Remus, who founded Rome. By the way, it was in that year that a new tradition was introduced - hanging medals around the necks of athletes.

The Mexicans, who hosted the Games in 1968, approached the creation of the Olympic logo no less creatively. This time, as a symbol of the Olympic Games, the rings were inscribed in the inscription “Mexico City 68” and highlighted in color. The lower rings were part of the number 68.

Section 5. The unopened ring of the Sochi Olympics

But not everything is as smooth as it might seem at first glance. The rings of the Olympic Games, which represent the five inhabited continents of the planet, have not always been a success. Some things were condemned, some things were welcomed, and there were also things that went down in history.

A small technical incident with the rings occurred at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Olympics in Sochi (Russia).

According to the plan, during the show, large snowflakes hanging over the Fisht stadium were supposed to transform into Olympic rings. But only four were revealed. One ring remained hanging like a snowflake.

However, Russian television viewers did not see this hitch, since the organizers realized what was happening a little earlier than the others and broadcast footage from the rehearsal.

During the closing of the Olympic Games, this incident with the unopened ring was ironically played out. At the beginning of the ceremony, the show participants formed a composition with five rings and one snowflake, which quickly opened after a few seconds.

Section 6. Other symbols of the Olympics

It should be noted that, in addition to the official flag and rings, there are also other symbols of the Olympics.

• Fire. The tradition of lighting a torch was taken by Coubertin in 1912 from the ancient Greeks. The Olympic flame is a symbol of purity, the struggle for victory and self-improvement. It was first lit in 1928. The relay to pass the torch to the city where the Game is being held began in 1936.
• Medals. For first place the athlete is awarded a gold medal, for second - a silver, for third - a bronze. They are awarded to the winners after the competition at a special ceremony.
• Motto"Citius, Altius, Fortius" can be translated into Russian as "Faster, higher, stronger." These words were first spoken by the priest Henri Martin Didon during the opening of sports competitions in college. Coubertin thought that this phrase perfectly reflects the essence of the Olympic Games.
• Oath, according to which the participants of the Games must respect and comply with the established rules. Its text was written by Pierre de Coubertin and was first performed in 1920.
• Olympic principle was also defined by Pierre de Coubertin in 1896. It says that in the Olympic Games, as in life, the main thing is not victory, but participation.
• Opening ceremony of the games- the most solemn part. It hosts a parade of athletes from all countries participating in the competition. The Greek team goes first, then the countries' teams according to the alphabet, and the last goes the team of the country organizing the Games.

Section 7. Interesting facts about the Olympic Games

According to the International Olympic Committee, gold medals must contain at least 6 grams of pure gold as a coating.

On Olympic Games logos, the year is usually written in four or two numbers (Athens 2004 or Barcelona 92). In the entire history of the Games, only once in 1960 in Rome was the year written in five letters (MCMLX).

During the Great Depression in 1932, the Brazilian government could not find the money to send a delegation to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. As a result, 82 Brazilian athletes were put on a ship with coffee in order to bring them to America with the proceeds. When the ship arrived at the port of San Pedro, its leaders demanded to pay one dollar for each person who came ashore. Only those who had a chance to receive a medal were released from the ship. He then went to San Francisco to sell coffee and was able to drop off a few more athletes, but 15 athletes returned back to Brazil.

In 1956, the Summer Olympics were held in Melbourne, which was unable to host some sports. Australian quarantine regulations prohibited the import of horses, and equestrian events had to be held in Stockholm.

Section 8. Let's look into the future

As already reported above, the next Olympic Games will be held in Brazil, in the world famous holiday city of Rio de Janeiro.

This carnival capital knows how to do more than just surprise. It literally amazes every traveler, which means there is no doubt that the 2016 Olympics will be another amazing event.

Whether the rings of the Olympic Games will undergo changes, which signify the unity of the planet, is not yet known, since such details are usually a secret part of the opening ceremony.

Olympic flag

Olympic flag- a white silk cloth with five intertwined rings of blue, black, red (top row), yellow and green (bottom row) embroidered on it.

Basic information

The flag was designed by Pierre de Coubertin in 1913 and presented at the VII Summer Olympic Games in Antwerp in 1920. The rings symbolize the five parts of the world. However, contrary to popular belief, each of the rings does not belong to any specific continent. The six colors (together with the white background of the canvas) are combined in such a way that they represent the national colors of all countries of the world without exception.

Variations

Every time before the Games, the IOC discusses, together with the council of the country in which the Olympic Games will be held, what every detail of the symbolism, including the rings, will look like. The color scheme remains the same, but all rings can be the same color. Sometimes the arrangement of rings partially changes, but not their number. It happens that they use the classic, strict initial version.

• In 1936, at the XI Summer Olympic Games, the Olympic rings were depicted on the emblem, under the eagle. The most interesting thing is that the arrangement was shifted: the rings were fastened, but not so that the lower ring was in the center of the fastening of the upper two, but so that the rings were located almost in a row, where the first, third and fifth were slightly raised.

• In 1948, the emblem of the XIV Summer Olympic Games featured rings in the foreground. The emblem was black and white and so were the Olympic rings.

• The emblem of the 1952 Summer Olympics featured them in all white with a blue background on top.

• On the emblem of the XVI Summer Olympic Games, Swedish artists depicted the Olympic rings in the foreground on a green background, but all the rings are white.

• In 1960, three-dimensional, silver-colored, monochromatic rings appeared in the emblem.

• In 1964 in Tokyo, Japanese designers painted the rings gold.

• The 1968 Summer Olympics had an emblem with the Olympic rings in color, and with some design. All rings are fastened according to the standard and were located on the year numbers “68” (1968), so the lower (yellow and green) rings fell into the lower round parts of the “68” symbols.

• On the 1976 Olympic emblem, all the rings are red and semicircles stretch upward from the top three, so that the result is 3 vertical ovals, with circles at the bottom. This symbol was also depicted on the medals of the Games.

• On the emblem of the games of the XXII Olympiad in Moscow, the rings were dark red and the last 2 were partially covered by the Olympic Bear.

• At the next Games, in 1984, the emblem featured the rings at the bottom in their standard color scheme.

• In 1988, the emblem also featured colored rings at the bottom, and the rings were cast onto the medals.

• In 1992, the mascot, emblem and medals featured the Olympic rings.

• On both sides of the 1996 Summer Olympics medals and the emblem, rings were painted in gold.

• In Sydney in 2000, the rings were depicted at the very bottom of the emblem, and they were engraved large on the reverse side of the medals.

• The emblem of the 2004 Summer Olympics featured rings in the same color scheme. They were also depicted on both sides of the medals.

• The Olympic rings were placed under the main part of the emblem of the 2008 Summer Olympics, but with the development of the computer industry, there were a huge number of variations of the emblem. In 2008, for the Beijing Games, three-dimensional rings were drawn using computer graphics, inside which were photographs of Chinese culture and attractions. The emblem of the Beijing bid also depicts the Olympic rings, but in a very strange shape, a chain of semicircles held together by a circle. There were also rings on both sides of each medal.

• On the emblem of the XXX Olympic Games in Great Britain, the Olympic rings were installed in the upper right part of the logo, inside the “O” (or “N”) symbol.

• The symbols of the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi use the snowflake motif.

• For the 2016 Summer Olympics, several countries nominated emblems, among which the city of Baku replaced the rings with people, that is, a person of a certain color symbolized their continent. But the colors do not correspond to the standard; the drawn men are depicted in the following colors: (from left to right) white, yellow, black, brown and red.

Usage

In 2008 in Beijing, images of rings could be seen almost everywhere. Stickers with the Olympic color rings were even placed on toilet tanks. During the Games, some Chinese boys had a symbol of 5 rings shaved.[ source not specified 2900 days] But the Chinese Liu Ming looked more critical, who, in addition to 200 tattoos, had room on his forehead for a new one - the Olympic rings, drawn long before the opening of the Games.[ source not specified 2900 days] On the closing day, fireworks in the form of this symbol were specially planned.[ source not specified 2900 days]

Rings are often depicted on stamps, medals and coins. The most unusual places to place the Olympic rings were a metal lamppost in Podolsk and a cast-iron sewer manhole in Beijing.[ source not specified 2900 days]

The meaning of the colors of the Olympic rings

Serega kuptsevich

The meaning of the Olympic rings

The five intertwined rings that appear on the Olympic flag are known as the Olympic rings. These rings are colored blue, yellow, black, green and red, and intertwined with each other, in principle they are a symbol of the Olympic Games. The Olympic rings were designed by Pierre de Coubertin in 1912. The five rings represent the five parts of the world: America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania. The Americas are treated as a single continent, while Antarctica and the Arctic have not been taken into account. Although there is no specific color associated with a specific continent or region, different theories about the meaning of the color of the Olympic rings tend to link them to different quotes. For example, 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 debuted at the 1920 Olympics in Belgium.

When this emblem was introduced in August 1912, de Coubertin stated the following in the Revue Olympique:
The emblem chosen for illustration represents the 1914 World Congress...: five rings of different colors intertwined - blue, yellow, black, green, red and placed on a white sheet of paper. These five rings represent the five parts of the world that are now reviving the spirit of Olympism and are ready to embrace healthy competition.

The point of the Olympic rings, according to the International Olympic Committee, is to reinforce the idea that the Olympic Movement is an international campaign and all countries in the world are invited to join it. Even the Olympic Charter recognizes the importance of the Olympic rings by stating that they represent the union of the five continents, as well as the gathering of athletes from all over the world at the Olympic Games. There is a strict code regarding the use of this symbol that must be followed under all circumstances. For example, even if the Olympic rings are shown on a black background, the black ring should not be replaced with a ring of a different color.

The symbol of the Olympic Games is five rings. What does the blue ring symbolize?

Andreyushka

Olympic ring symbol- proposed by the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Pierre de Coubertin.

From the very beginning, each ring signified a continent. Five rings - five continents (except Antarctica).

It is interesting that Coubertin did not specify the colors of the rings. Why exactly these colors appeared is unclear.

After this, the following version arose and spread: red ring - America (like, red-skinned people), black ring - Africa (black people), yellow ring - Asia (yellow-skinned people), green ring - Australia (there is a lot of greenery on the continent - green continent ), blue ring - Europe. Why blue is unclear. Who came up with this version is also unclear.

Now there have been proposals to make the Olympic rings all the same color. Whether he will be accepted is also unknown.

Initially, Pierre de Coubertin (the “founder” of the Olympic movement in the new “format”), having developed the flag of the Olympics (a white cloth, and on it five rings of blue, black, red, yellow and green), put the following meaning into this symbol :

five colors + white (the color of the flag) - in total, 6 colors that are present on the national flags of all countries of the world.

There was no link between a specific color and a specific continent. Therefore, the blue ring, in itself, does not symbolize anything.

Afanasy44

Pierre de Coubertin proposed the following symbolism - five crossed rings. He did not explain the colors, after him people began to associate black with Africa, yellow with Asia, red with America, where the redskins live, Australia (the green continent) of course, and blue with Europe. Maybe it was not in vain that this turned out to be the case, because the capital of the gays is in Amsterdam, Denmark, and this is Europe.

Blue (blue) - sacred, divine, honest; the color of the sky, a symbol of the sublimity of aspirations, spiritual improvement.... in ancient iconography, the halo of the gods is painted blue. In the history of Europe, the color blue was associated with high origin, aristocracy and nobility of the nobles, in whose veins, to use a figurative expression, flow “blue blood”

Elena-kh

The blue ring symbolizes Europe. Unfortunately, it is not clear why blue was chosen for our continent. But I will offer my version - because in Europe, most likely, there are more people with blue eyes than with any others, although I could be wrong. Maybe because of the maritime border, although it exists on all continents.

Agafya

Five different colored rings symbolize the five different continents on which people live. Black ring - Africa, yellow ring - Asia, Red ring - America, Green ring - Australia. Europe is left with what remains - the Blue Ring. A hint of Amsterdam and others like it?

The five rings of the Olympic Games symbol symbolize the 5 continents that participate in the games. Blue - Europe

Yellow - Asia

Green - Australia

Black - Africa

Red - North and South America.

As you can see, only Antarctica is missing, naturally for obvious reasons.

Rainbow-spring

All five Olympic rings symbolize the continent. Back in 1913, each continent was given one ring and assigned a color. Therefore, I can say with confidence that the blue or blue ring is a symbol of Europe.

Strymbrym

The five Olympic rings symbolize the five continents on whose territory the Olympic Games are held. The red ring symbolizes America, black Africa, BLUE - EUROPE, yellow Asia and green - Australia.

However, you are most likely interested in who invented the emblem " five olympic rings "? And what does she really represent? There are two versions that try to shed light on this mystery.

First version. This version was even recognized in the Olympic Charter. The fact is that he was directly involved in the origin of the symbol of the Olympic rings Pierre de Coubertin French citizen. It was his developments that served as the prototype for the emblem that was later depicted on the Olympic flag. This happened two years before the Belgian Olympic Games - in 1912.

These rings passing through one another form two rows. The bottom row consists of rings of green and yellow, and the top row of red, black and blue.

The five rings represent the five parts of the world, each of which has a specific color. The green color represents the flowering and lush continent of Australia, the yellow color is given to Asia, since the people there have yellow skin, and the land in many areas is covered with sand, the red color went to America, because the aborigines there have skin with a reddish tint, the black color was given to Africa, because there live savages with ebony-colored skin, the blue color stands for Europe, because people there consider themselves superior to others.

The emblem of five rings woven into one symbolizes the connection of five continents for the sake of sports competitions on a planetary scale, readiness for fair but serious competition, and a common sports spirit

Second version. This version is not so popular, but it is still too early to dismiss it. Some researchers claim that the symbol of the five rings for the Olympic Games was invented by himself." great and terrible"psychologist Carl Jung. He was well versed in Chinese philosophy in which the sign of the ring denoted greatness, vitality and some mystical energy. The ancient Chinese believed that our universe is controlled by several energies: metal, fire, earth, wood and water. Carl Jung imbued with the spirit of ancient mystical Chinese philosophy, he decided to express these five energies on paper, while uniting them. So he drew the symbol that we now know as the emblem of the Olympic Games. Moreover, the psychologist in 1912 explained how he himself understood these sports competitions. Today they are called pentathlon. He was convinced that an Olympic athlete needed to be versatile and master each of the five types of competitions - shooting, jumping, swimming, running and fencing.

In this case, the color corresponded to shooting was black, jumping was green, swimming was blue, running was yellow, fencing was red. Such an interpretation of the symbol focused attention on the achievements and abilities of a certain athlete worthy of being considered an Olympic champion, and not on the planetary scale of sports competitions

The use of the Olympic rings emblem is subject to strict regulation. It is prohibited to move rings from row to row or change colors. The International Olympic Committee constantly monitors compliance with regulatory standards.

Symbols of the Olympic Games video

The Olympic Games are among the most anticipated and rated sporting events in the world. Their main attribute is easily recognizable - five multi-colored rings. How did he appear? What do the Olympic rings mean?

We can explore this issue in the following main aspects:

The history of the Olympic rings

The symbol of the Games in question first became known to the wider sports community in 1920. Since then, it has invariably accompanied every winter or summer Olympics. Officially, the rings are used as an element of the flag, which is based on a white cloth, which has long been associated with the negation of wars and peace. As is known, in Ancient Greece, during the Olympic Games, which became the direct prototype of the modern ones, all hostilities between the warring policies ceased (whose representatives then held peace negotiations in Olympia).

The idea to complement the white flag, associated with peace, with multi-colored rings belongs to Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the same man who came up with the idea of ​​holding worldwide competitions at the end of the 19th century, the history of which dates back to ancient times. In 1913, craftsmen from the Bon Marche atelier, located in Paris, produced the first example of the Olympic flag. It was presented to the public in 1914 at the Sorbonne during ceremonies marking the 20th anniversary of the Olympic movement revived by Pierre de Coubertin.

The original plan was to use a flag with five rings at the 1916 Games. But by that time the First World War had broken out, making the competition impossible. However, already at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, the new symbols were presented as official.

The interweaving of five multi-colored rings is a concept invented by Pierre de Coubertin, as some sources indicate, under the influence of the attributes of the Union of French Societies of Athletic Sports (Union des sociétés françaises de sports athlétiques, USFSA), headed by the famous figure himself. The fact is that the emblem of this institution consisted of two rings (red and blue), which were brought together.

It may be noted that the USFSA emblem was part of the logo of the International French Committee (Le Comité français interfédéral, CFI), which later became the French Football Federation. Below is an example of placing the corresponding element on athletes’ clothing.

The USFSA symbol signified the formation of the Union by two separate associations operating in France - the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Course a Pied and the Committee for the Development of Physical Education (Comité pour la Propagation des Exercises Physiques). In turn, the blue and red colors in the USFSA attribute were influenced by the corresponding shades present in the French national flag.

At the same time, there is another version - according to which Pierre de Coubertin created the Olympic symbol in a form familiar to us, having seen images similar to it on ancient Greek objects.

The semantic content of the main Olympic attribute

What do the five Olympic rings mean, used as the main attribute of the modern Games?

The fact that there are exactly 5 rings on the Olympic flag is associated by historians with the desire of Pierre de Coubertin to unite the symbols of several nations on a common white cloth. Thus, yellow and blue colors represented Sweden (the same shades are present on the national flag of this Scandinavian country); blue and white - the USA and several European states, on the official attributes of which, respectively, there are these colors; yellow and red - Spain, Brazil, Australia, China and Japan. Remembering what the flags of these countries look like, we will see that they have yellow or red elements - and in the case of Spain, both.

Subsequently, the symbolism of the Olympics in terms of the shades of the 5 rings received additional interpretations. Let's take a closer look at them.

The above-mentioned interpretation of the 5 Olympic rings as reflecting the competitive unity of world nations was considered the main one until 1951 - until the International Olympic Committee decided that the corresponding elements of the Games flag should be associated not with countries, but with continents. By the way, back in 1931, Pierre de Coubertin, as some sources testify, spoke about the need to interpret the semantic content of the 5 rings in exactly this way.

True, the founder of the modern Olympic movement did not specify which specific continent each of the rings should correspond to. At least, there is no generally accepted public information that would clearly reflect Pierre de Coubertin's opinion on this matter.

According to the unofficial interpretation of the correspondence of the marked elements of the Olympic flag to the continents, blue stands for Europe, yellow for Asia, black for Africa, green for Australia, red for America, both North and South. However, the more widespread version is that the indicated shades of the Olympic rings are present in one way or another on the national flag of any country in the world.

In general, the color scheme and relative position of the rings do not change when using the corresponding attribute of the Games within the framework of the competition. But sometimes it is possible to adapt them to the thematic concepts used by the organizers of the Olympics. For example, at the opening ceremony of the Winter Games in Sochi in 2014, the rings were designed in the form of identical white snowflakes - one of them, as is known, did not open at a crucial moment due to technical reasons. There was an interweaving between them, and such a condition for the use of the Olympic symbol in question is considered, as many experts believe, to be without alternative, mandatory in all cases.

At the same time, single-color design of Olympic rings is practiced quite often: for example, in the manufacture of souvenirs, layout of various thematic bulletins and media. At the same time, the IOC has no public objections to such formats for applying the main attribute of the Games. According to sports historians and experts, this may indicate this organization’s commitment to the idea of ​​unity and equality of world nations, regardless of the likely interpretations of the meaning of the colors in the Olympic rings.

Agree, we are accustomed to taking some events for granted, without really thinking about the history of their occurrence or their characteristic features.

Perhaps the Olympics should be considered a similar global event. But every time sports competitions of this kind attract the attention of not even hundreds, but hundreds of thousands of devoted sports fans around the world.

Incredibly, they have been held for 118 years, and now both the fire and the rings of the Olympic Games are already commonly perceived.

What do these symbols mean and why did they become iconic? Perhaps not every modern person can answer this question.

Section 1. Olympics today

In general, the Olympics should be understood as a sporting event of an international scale in which thousands of athletes from different countries compete.

There are summer and winter seasons that take place alternately every two years. That is, purely theoretically, it can be calculated that events of this kind are organized only in even-numbered years. And if in 2014 the Olympics were winter, then the next, already summer, will be held in 2016. By the way, according to the decision of a special commission, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) has been entrusted with hosting it.

Section 2. Five rings of the Olympic Games as the main symbol of the competition

A white flag with characteristic symbols... At a certain moment, as if by magic, it appears everywhere: on buildings, on sports and casual clothing, interior items and even on children's toys.

The snow-white background symbolizes And this is far from accidental, because for a long time during the Olympics, military actions and conflicts stopped and are stopping all over the planet.

The number of games placed on the flag is also very well thought out. They are colored yellow, blue, black, red and green.

First of all, we note that the rings of the Olympic Games symbolize the five continents of the planet: America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania. Why is this so, since the globe consists of six? The fact is that Antarctica and the Arctic, due to their uninhabitation, were not taken into account when developing the symbol.

Oh those Olympic rings! What they mean was invented a little later. Today, even schoolchildren can tell that each part of the world is correlated with its own specific color. Europe is blue, Africa is black, America is red, Asia is yellow, Oceania is green.

Section 3. Emblem of the Olympic Games: rings and the history of their origin

This symbolic sign was developed in 1912 by Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games. The emblem was adopted in 1914, although it should be noted that it debuted much later, only in 1920, at the Olympics in Belgium. It was originally planned that the world would see the flag decorated with the new symbol in 1916, but the First World War prevented the main events from taking place.

It is hardly worth mentioning that immediately after their appearance, the rings were liked and became an integral attribute of the Olympics. In subsequent years they were used to create various logos related to the Games.

Section 4. Has the symbol been modernized?

Oddly enough, yes. And the Olympic rings underwent the biggest changes at the 1936 Olympics, held in the German capital Berlin.

Firstly, the rings were not arranged in two rows as usual, but in one. Their location is slightly similar to the traditional one due to the fact that the first, third and fifth of them were raised compared to the second and fourth.

Secondly, both the rings and the eagle holding them were made in black and white. In subsequent years, the monochrome version of the Olympic Games logo was used quite often, but the arrangement was no longer changed.

In 1960, in Italy, game artists made the rings three-dimensional. It was made in gray color. The rings were located under the Roman she-wolf, which, according to legend, suckled Romulus and Remus, who founded Rome. By the way, it was in that year that a new tradition was introduced - hanging medals around the necks of athletes.

The Mexicans, who hosted the Games in 1968, approached the creation of the Olympic logo no less creatively. This time, as a symbol of the Olympic Games, the rings were inscribed in the inscription “Mexico City 68” and highlighted in color. The lower rings were part of the number 68.

Section 5. The unopened ring of the Sochi Olympics

But not everything is as smooth as it might seem at first glance. The rings of the Olympic Games, which represent the five inhabited continents of the planet, have not always been a success. Some things were condemned, some things were welcomed, and there were also things that went down in history.

A small technical incident with the rings occurred at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Olympics in Sochi (Russia).

According to the plan, during the show, large snowflakes hanging over the Fisht stadium were supposed to transform into Olympic rings. But only four were revealed. One ring remained hanging like a snowflake.

However, Russian television viewers did not see this hitch, since the organizers realized what was happening a little earlier than the others and broadcast footage from the rehearsal.

During the closing of the Olympic Games, this incident with the unopened ring was ironically played out. At the beginning of the ceremony, the show participants formed a composition with five rings and one snowflake, which quickly opened after a few seconds.

Section 6. Other symbols of the Olympics

It should be noted that, in addition to the official flag and rings, there are also other symbols of the Olympics.

• Fire. The tradition of lighting a torch was taken by Coubertin in 1912 from the ancient Greeks. The Olympic flame is a symbol of purity, the struggle for victory and self-improvement. It was first lit in 1928. The relay to pass the torch to the city where the Game is being held began in 1936.
• Medals. For first place the athlete is awarded a gold medal, for second - a silver, for third - a bronze. They are awarded to the winners after the competition at a special ceremony.
• Motto"Citius, Altius, Fortius" can be translated into Russian as "Faster, higher, stronger." These words were first spoken by the priest Henri Martin Didon during the opening of sports competitions in college. Coubertin thought that this phrase perfectly reflects the essence of the Olympic Games.
• Oath, according to which the participants of the Games must respect and comply with the established rules. Its text was written by Pierre de Coubertin and was first performed in 1920.
• Olympic principle was also defined by Pierre de Coubertin in 1896. It says that in the Olympic Games, as in life, the main thing is not victory, but participation.
• Opening ceremony of the games- the most solemn part. It hosts a parade of athletes from all countries participating in the competition. The Greek team goes first, then the countries' teams according to the alphabet, and the last goes the team of the country organizing the Games.

Section 7. Interesting facts about the Olympic Games

According to the decree, gold medals must contain at least 6 grams of pure gold in the form of coating.

On Olympic Games logos, the year is usually written in four or two numbers (Athens 2004 or Barcelona 92). In the entire history of the Games, only once in 1960 in Rome was the year written in five letters (MCMLX).

During the Great Depression in 1932, the Brazilian government could not find the money to send a delegation to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. As a result, 82 Brazilian athletes were put on a ship with coffee in order to bring them to America with the proceeds. When the ship arrived at the port of San Pedro, its leaders demanded to pay one dollar for each person who came ashore. Only those who had a chance to receive a medal were released from the ship. He then went to San Francisco to sell coffee and was able to drop off a few more athletes, but 15 athletes returned back to Brazil.

In 1956, the Summer Olympics were held in Melbourne, which was unable to host some sports. Australian quarantine regulations prohibited the import of horses, and equestrian events had to be held in Stockholm.

Section 8. Let's look into the future

As already reported above, the next Olympic Games will be held in Brazil, in the world famous holiday city of Rio de Janeiro.

This carnival capital knows how to do more than just surprise. It literally amazes every traveler, which means there is no doubt that the 2016 Olympics will be another amazing event.

Whether the rings of the Olympic Games will undergo changes, which signify the unity of the planet, is not yet known, since such details are usually a secret part of the opening ceremony.

Symbol of the Olympic Games

The Olympic rings have rightfully taken one of the most worthy places among the Olympic symbols. Five multi-colored rings, most often on a white background, intertwine and form a single whole, symbolizing a global sporting event. Five rings emblem

Hides the deepest meaning, which lies in the very concept of sport as such. It contains the idea of ​​universal popularization of the Olympic movement, equal rights for each participating country, fair treatment of athletes, and healthy competition. The Olympic rings symbol made its debut at the 1914 Olympic Games, held in Belgium.

But who was the inventor of this symbol? What does it really mean? There are two main opinions on this matter.

According to one version, recognized even by the Olympic Charter, origin of the Olympic rings symbol usually associated with the Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin. It was on his initiative and development that 5 multi-colored rings were depicted on the Olympic flag. This happened in 1912. Intertwining with each other, they formed two rows. The top row consists of rings of blue, black and red, the bottom row of yellow and green. Number five symbolizes five parts of the world, each of which has a specific color. The blue color represents Europe, the black continent is Africa, the red is America, the yellow is Asia, and the green continent is Australia. The two American continents were considered as one continent; Antarctica and the Arctic were not taken into account. The interweaving of five rings into one means the unification of five continents in the name of world-scale competitions, a common sports spirit, equality of countries and readiness for tough but fair competition.

Second version appearance of the Olympic rings, is not so well known, but at the same time cannot be prematurely dismissed. According to some reports, the symbol of the five Olympic rings was invented by psychologist Carl Jung. He was well versed in the field of Chinese philosophy, in which the sign of the ring signified a certain energy, vitality and greatness. According to Chinese beliefs, our world is governed by the energies of earth, water, fire, wood and metal. Jung personally proposed to designate five rings these energies and combine them into the symbol that we know today. In addition, in 1912 the scientist proposed his understanding of the Olympic competitions. Now we call them pentathlon. In his opinion, an Olympic athlete had to be versatile and master each of the five main sports - swimming, fencing, jumping, running and shooting. At the same time, the color blue corresponded to swimming, red to fencing, green to jumping, yellow to running, and black to shooting. This interpretation of the emblem focused attention not on the global scale of sports competitions, but on the abilities and achievements of a specific person worthy of being called an Olympic champion.

Use of the Olympic rings symbol subject to strict regulation. You cannot change colors or move rings from one row to another. Monitoring compliance with the regulations is carried out by the IOC.