The Story Behind The Five Rings // Jessica Hoefer

PC: Wikipedia

Every two years, the world is joined together in what is known as Olympism. And every two years, this universal symbol reemerges: five interlinked rings with one each in blue, black, red, yellow, and green on a white background.

So what does this exactly represent? According to the Olympic Charter, “The Olympic symbol expresses the activity of the Olympic Movement and represents the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world at the Olympic Games.”  (Source)

Despite there being seven continents, according to the Olympics - the five rings represent the five inhabitable continents: the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. Though creator of the symbol and co-founder of the modern Olympic Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, appears to have intended the rings to represent the five participating continents. However post-1951, the official handbook does not assign one color to be representative of a specific continent.

The white background also has significance. In combination with the five rings, these six colors are “those that appear on all the national flags of the world at the present time” -  Pierre de Coubertin (1931).

So what are your thoughts on this iconic symbol? Should it change to include six rings representing the six inhabitable continents? Should the colors change every year, remain the same, become monochromatic?

Let us know!

Source:
https://www.olympic.org/olympic-rings

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