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Olympic Rings
Olympic Rings
Olympic Rings
The Olympic Rings
The Olympic Rings are recognizable around the globe. They represent the
union of the five habitable continents and the meeting of athletes throughout the
world. This paper will give a brief history of the Rings creator as well as explain
the history behind the Rings including the rules and regulations. The Rings were
also used in many different places that the International Olympic Committee
agreed on.
Participation of the Olympic Games was limited to the Greeks only, but
when the Romans overthrew the Greeks, the Olympics suffered in popularity. In
393AD the Roman Emperor Theodosius I ordered the Games to end. It was in
1892 when the idea of bringing back the Olympic Games was brought out
publicly by Baron Pierre de Coubertin.
In 1913, Pierre de Coubertin, who was the founder of the modern Olympic
Games, designed five interlocking rings of blue, yellow, black, green and red on a
Brandi Embrey
History of Graphic Design
white field. Each of the five rings represents the five continents of the world, the
Americas are counted as one and Antarctica is omitted. The six colors shown
are those that appear on all the national flags of the world at the present time.
The Rings gained their popularity due to their promotion by Nazi Germany.*
There are rules to using the Olympic Rings. Graphic standards have been
set. One is the exact position of each ring. They were first designed to be
connected side by side, but are now set with three on top and two on the bottom.
The blue, black and red rings are placed at the top of the design, while the yellow
and green rings are at the bottom. Each ring is connected to the next. The rings
cannot be used without the International Olympic Committee’s authorization. *
The Olympic Rings are recognized around the globe as the symbol for the
Olympic Games. They were adopted in 1914, where Pierre de Coubertin
presented the rings and the flag in Paris, France. They were used in the 1920
Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium. They were supposed to be used in the
1916 Olympics in Berlin, Germany but it was canceled because Germany,
Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey were not invited due to their part in the
Brandi Embrey
History of Graphic Design
fighting of World War I. This time and for two summers Games and two winter
Games during World War II were the only times the Olympics were canceled.
Germany wan not invited to the Olympics in London following the second world
war. The rings and flag conveyed universality and nationalism in a time when
tension between certain countries was high. Coubertin aimed to encourage world
unity with his design.**
An Olympic Flag featuring the Olympic Rings is raised during each
opening of the Games and lowered during the closing ceremonies. For the
Olympic Oath a second flag is used. These special flags are kept in the city halls
of the host city. A ceremony called the “Antwerp Ceremony” (because it started in
Antwerp, Belgium) is where the mayor of the hosting city returns the flag to the
president of the International Olympic Committee who in turn passes it along to
the mayor of the next city to host the Games. There are three such flags that are
part of this ceremony, each featuring the rings along with their own design. The
Antwerp Flag was presented in the Summer Olympics in 1920, in the Los
Angeles closing ceremony in 1984 and was passed on in the Summer Olympics
Brandi Embrey
History of Graphic Design
until the Games of Seoul in 1988 when it was retired. It is now on display in
Lausanne, Switzerland at the Olympic Museum. The Oslo Flag was presented in
the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway and is still passed on in the Winter
Games. The Seoul Flag was presented in the 1988 Summer Olympics by Seoul,
South Korea and is passed on in the Summer Games.**
The Olympic Rings for the first time appeared on the winners’ medals in
the 1924 Olympics in Paris, France. They reappear for the Equestrian Games’
prize medals in 1956 in Stockholm, Sweden. They have continued to appear on
the medals of the Summer Games either alone or with the Organizing
Committee’s emblem since the 1976 Games in Montreal, Canada. For the Winter
Games, the Olympic Rings have been present on the medals since 1928 in St.
Moritz, Switzerland.
The first time for the Olympic Flag, which has the Olympic Rings on it with
a white background, to appear on a poster was for the Olympic Winter Games in
St. Moritz, Switzerland. For the Summer Games, it didn’t appear until the 1932
Games in Los Angeles, California. Starting at the 1924 Olympic Winter Games in
Brandi Embrey
History of Graphic Design
Chamonix, France, you can find the rings on souvenirs made for the Games.
Stamps featuring the Olympic Rings started at the Amsterdam, Netherlands
Olympic Games in 1928. The Olympic Rings were integrated into Lausanne,
Switzerland’s tourism logo in 1993. Lausanne has been the home of the
International Olympic Committee since 1915. **
The Olympic Rings are one of the most recognizable symbols of the world.
They have been the same for over 90 years and will probably stay the same
forever, reminding everyone of the unity the Olympic Games bring to the
continents.
Brandi Embrey
History of Graphic Design
References
The Olympic Symbols by the Olympic Museum and Studies Centre, Lausanne,
2002.
Behind the Rings by Geoffrey Miller
Encyclopedia of Modern Olympic Movement By John E. Findling, Kimberly D.
Pelle
The Olympic Charter By the International Olympic Committee, 2004