An Analysis of The Olympic Flag

The opening ceremonies are coming up! Every country participating in the Rio Olympics will be on display, proudly waving their nation's flag. Every color you could possibly think of will be seen. But what about the colors that brought them together.

Let's take a look at the Olympic flag itself. It seems fairly simple. White with a few colored rings. But what those colors really mean may surprise you.

THE WHITE BACKGROUND

Let's take a look at the white background first. What's the first thing you think of when you think of white? Purity? Snow? Cold? Well, you're not far off. In this case, white symbolizes a clean slate or new beginning.

The creator of the Olympic flag, Pierre de Coubertin, knew back in 1913 that eventually, other countries would be at war with one another. But he wanted the Olympic Games to rise above those conflicts. He wanted the Olympics to be a time for countries to come together in peace.

So he took the age old symbol of a white flag of truce and incorporated it into his design. What does it mean when someone raises a white flag? Well, most of us would think that it means surrender, but that's not the case. It actually means peace. When you wave the white flag, it means you are willing to stop fighting an come together in peace with your enemy to discuss terms that will end your fighting permanently.

It's little wonder why Pierre de Coubertin chose a white backround to his unity flag.

THE RING COLORS:

Obviously, it would be impossible to represent all off the world's 196 countries fairly on a single flag. But representing the continents of the world is much more manageable task.

Each of the rings on the Olympic flag represent one or a combination of continents.

• North and South America
• Asia
• Africa
• Europe 
• Australia

De Coubertin chose blue, black, red, yellow, and green to represent those continents. It's interesting to note that no specific color represents any specific continent. 

Then why those specific colors you may ask? Well, these five colors (six if you include white) are a throw back to the first modern Olympics held in Athens in 1896. They symbolize the common colors on the national flags of the countries that first participated in the Olympics.

THE RING DESIGN:

Remember when Coca-Cola ran the "Like To Buy A World A Coke" commercial? How did Coca-Cola decide to represent the unity of nations? By everyone holding hands and making a chain of unity across the world.

Well, believe it or not, Coca-Cola wasn't the first institution to use this interlocking symbol of unity. It was first made popular by the Olympic flag.

The interlocking design of the Olympic rings symbolizes the unity of the nations of the world coming together under a flag of truce and peace (the white background) in the spirit of friendly competition.

The story goes that when this design for the Olympic flag was first unveild at the Antwerp games 1920, athletes and spectators alike were so enthused by it that they stole representations of the five-ring symbol that were displayed all around the city.

This unity concept is why the Olympic torch is passed from city to city and country to country across the world on its route to the next host city.

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