What the multicolored rings of the Olympic emblem symbolize. Olympic stories: five colorful rings on the Games flag

23.08.2019

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 it come about? What do the Olympic rings mean?

We can investigate this issue in the following main aspects:

The history of the appearance of the Olympic rings

The considered symbol of the Games first became known to the general sports community in 1920. Since then, he has invariably accompanied every Winter or Summer Olympics. Officially, the rings are used as an element of the flag, based on a white cloth, which has long been associated with the denial of war and peace. As you know, in Ancient Greece, during the Olympic Games, which became the direct prototype of modern ones, all hostilities between the warring policies (whose representatives then conducted peace negotiations in Olympia) ceased.

The idea of complementing the white flag associated with the world with multi-colored rings belongs to Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the very man who invented at the end of the 19th century to hold world competitions, the history of which dates back to ancient times. In 1913, the craftsmen of the Bon Marche atelier, located in Paris, made the first example of the Olympic flag. It was presented to the public in 1914 at the Sorbonne during the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Olympic movement revived by Pierre de Coubertin.

The original plan was to use the five-ring flag at the 1916 Games. But by that time, the First World War had broken out, as a result of which it was impossible to hold competitions. However, already at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, the new symbols were presented as official.

The interlacing of five multi-colored rings is a concept invented by Pierre de Coubertin, according to some sources, influenced by the attributes of the 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 can be noted that the USFSA emblem was part of the logo structure of the French International Committee (Le Comité français interfédéral, CFI), which later became the French Football Federation. Below is an example of placing the corresponding element on the clothing of athletes.

The USFSA symbolism denoted the formation of the Union by two separate associations operating in France - the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Course a Pied and the 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 national French flag.

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

The semantic content of the main Olympic attribute

What is the meaning of the five Olympic rings used as the main attribute of the modern Games?

Historians associate the fact that there are exactly 5 rings on the Olympic flag with the desire of Pierre de Coubertin to unite the symbols of several nations at once on a common white cloth. So, yellow and blue colors designated Sweden (the same shades are present on the national flag of this Scandinavian country); blue and white - the United States and several European countries, on the official attributes of which, respectively, the indicated colors are; 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 consider them in more detail.

The above 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 flag of the Games should be associated not with countries, but with continents. By the way, back in 1931, Pierre de Coubertin, as evidenced by some sources, expressed the need to interpret the semantic content of 5 rings in this way.

True, the founder of the modern Olympic movement did not specify which continent each of the rings should correspond to. At least there is no generally accepted public information that would unequivocally reflect the opinion of Pierre de Coubertin 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 stands for Asia, black stands for Africa, green stands for Australia, red stands for America, North and South at the same time. More widespread, however, is the version according to which 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 the mutual arrangement of the rings do not change when the corresponding attribute of the Games is used 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 decorated in the form of identical white snowflakes - one of them, as you know, was not revealed at a crucial moment due to technical reasons. At the same time, there was a plexus between them, and a similar condition for the use of the Olympic symbol in question is considered, as many experts believe, uncontested, mandatory in all cases.

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

The image of the five Olympic rings is probably the most famous in the whole world. It is extraordinary in that the execution is very simple. Therefore, fans at sports competitions often paint them on their faces or even hair. The rings are depicted in two rows: in the first three, in the second two. The color scheme from left to right is blue, black, red, yellow and green. This emblem was first introduced in 1920 at the 7th Summer Olympics, which was held in Belgium in the city of Antwerp.

Today there are several versions about where this image came from and what it means. Basically, everyone knows the following version: the rings symbolize a single whole of five continents. This theory was introduced by the well-known Baron Pierre de Coubertin in 1913. Until 1951, everyone knew that color refers to some continent. So Europe is symbolized by blue, black refers to Africa. America was the owner of red, yellow moved to Asia, and Australia became the owner of green. But by the middle of the twentieth century, many believed that these rings symbolized racial discrimination. Therefore, this color distribution was discontinued. But they began to say that each ring symbolizes at least one color of the flag of the countries. And they began to symbolize the friendship of the peoples of the whole world.

There is another theory that these five rings were proposed by the psychologist Carl Jung. He was fond of Chinese philosophy. And by combining two symbols of greatness and energy of life, which symbolizes a circle with five colors, I received such a drawing. Where each ring denoted the types of energy: wood, water, earth, fire and metal. He, in 1912, began to hold this type of Olympic competition, as in our time pentathlon. He believed that all participants in the Olympiad should be able to swim (blue - water element), fence (fire element - red), run over rough terrain (earth element - yellow). It also includes equestrian sports (green is the element of wood) and shooting (black is the element of metal).

When athletes arrive at the Olympic Games, they have their own emblem, but the symbol of the five rings is always present on it. They can fit into any drawing because they are versatile. The Olympic Committees also have their own emblems, but the symbol of the five rings can also be seen in them.

It's a shame, of course, that no one represents Antarctica, so there would be 6 rings on the Olympic flag and one of them would be white. And so there are only 5 rings - blue, yellow, black, green and red. The blue ring symbolizes Europe, the yellow ring - Asia, the black ring - Africa, and the red ring - North and South America.

There are several versions explaining the meaning of the colors of the Olympic rings.

First version the most common. She says that the creator of the Olympic rings Pierre de Coubertin, using multi-colored rings, characterized each of the five parts of the color.

The blue ring stands for Europe, the black ring for Africa, the red ring for America, the yellow ring for Asia, and the green ring for Australia.

That is, the symbol in the form of five intertwined rings denotes the union / union of five world continents.

By second version, the creator of the main Olympic symbol is the famous Swiss psychologist and philosopher Carl Gustav Jung. He decided to express the idea of Chinese mythology about the five elements of nature (water, earth, fire, wood and metal) in the form of rings, a symbol of power and greatness. And in 1912, Jung proposed the idea of pentathlon, the essence of which is that an Olympic athlete must master five sports - show jumping, fencing, shooting, running and swimming. Thus, the black ring symbolizes metal and shooting, the red ring - fencing and fire, yellow - earth and running, green - tree and jumping.

By third version, which complements the first, the colors of the rings are all shades that contain the state flags of all countries in the world. Those. a participant in the Olympic Games can be an athlete from any country in the world.

Five colored rings are familiar to us from the Olympics. The color of each ring was chosen for a reason, the colors represent a specific continent. And all the rings connected to each other are union, peace.

the blue ring is Europe,

Africa is represented by a black ring

America is red

yellow - Asia,

and the green ring represents Australia.

Clearly like this

I can't even remember where I learned it and when, but the Olympic rings, and as we know and see, there are 5 of them, mean five separate continents of the planet Earth.

Each ring is a different color and is a symbol of one of the five continents where people live and populated countries are located, and all together means universal unity and peace. There are such different colors as:

Colors of the Olympic rings

yellow, blue, black, green, red;

and they match in the same order:

Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, America.

The part of the world called Europa is blue, some say it is blue.

Part of the world Asia, as you know, Asians have yellow skin color, they got the yellow color of the ring on the flag.

The continent of Australia is green.

America - she was assigned the red ring.

Africa, where the skin color of the population is dark, is black.

In my opinion, everyone should know this, because the symbol of the five Olympic rings carries a deep meaning - equality of opportunities for everyone, for all races and continents, therefore all five continents of the Earth are represented on it. And each has its own color, as written above.

The Olympic rings as a symbol of the five continents (invented by Pierre de Coubertin) of the world have their own colors, which symbolize, according to the same definition of Pierre de Coubertin, the continents and their colors.

Blue color it Europe.

Yellow color expresses Asia.

Black color expresses Africa.

Green color expresses Australia.

Red Colour South and North America.

So the world associates the colors of the continents and, accordingly, the colors of the Olympic rings.

Such a symbol was invented by Pierre de Coubertin in 1913. There is no reliable information about what meaning he put into these colors, but it is generally accepted that the national colors of all countries are reflected in this symbol of the Olympic Games. The flag of any country has at least one of the five ring colors. Five continents - five colors - five rings. Blue - Europe, black - Africa, yellow - Asia, green - Australia, red - America... This symbol indicates that sportsmen from countries around the world can take part in the games. The Olympic Games were aimed at maintaining the principles of equality, strengthening peace and improving relationships, and these principles were laid down in ancient Greece.

The five Olympic rings symbolize the five continents that host the Olympic Games. And according to the colors, such a correspondence is accepted -

blue - Europe;
black - Africa;
red - America;
yellow - Asia;
green - Australia.

Everything is simple here - for each inhabited continent (now there are five of them), taking part in the Olympics, its own color is assigned:

America - red;

Europe - blue;

Asia - yellow;

Australia - green;

Africa is black.

When they populate Antarctica, there will probably be a sixth ring of white.

So, I wonder if the Martians will take part in the Olympics, what color will the ring be added? Mars, after all, is also called Red planet, and red is busy.

Olympic rings come in five colors: blue, yellow, black, green, and red.

They represent the five parts of the world: Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and America.

These parts of the world are interconnected in rings.

The symbol of any Olympic Games is a sign - five intertwined colored rings.

This symbol was chosen for a reason, it carries the meaning and purpose of any Olympics - the establishment of friendly relations between peoples, countries and continents around the globe.

Each ring has its own meaning and represents a specific continent (continent).

The yellow ring is a symbol of Asia.

The green ring is the symbol of Australia.

The red ring is the symbol of America.

The blue ring is a symbol of Europe.

The black ring is a symbol of Africa.

The red Olympic ring symbolizes the continent of America, its indigenous people are red Indians. Black symbolizes Africa with its blacks. Yellow indicates the continent of Asia. Green refers to Australia, Green continent. But why is Europe given blue?

According to one version, psychologist Carl Jung, who is also considered its creator in some circles, is associated with the appearance of Olympic symbols. Jung was well versed in Chinese philosophy, he knew that the ring in ancient cultures is a symbol of greatness and vitality. Therefore, he introduced the idea of five intertwined rings reflecting the five energies that are mentioned in Chinese philosophy: water, wood, fire, earth and metal.

Together with the symbols in 1912, the scientist introduced his own image of the Olympic competitions of modern pentathlon. Any Olympian had to own each of its five types.

The first discipline is swimming - in the form of a blue ring, it also depicts the element of water and indicates the rhythm that holds the breath, allows you to move forward on the surface of the water, to leadership.

The green jumping ring is an image of a tree and a symbol of the rider's energy. He must have the ability to control not only his own energy, but also the energy of the horse.

The next discipline is fencing, and it is depicted by the fire element in the form of a red ring. This discipline symbolizes flair. The swordsman's success depends on the ability to feel the enemy and guess his movements.

The yellow ring represents the element of the earth and represents the discipline of cross country running. She indicates resilience and perseverance. The cross-country runner jumps over the elements, knowing when to slow down and when to speed up.

The shooting discipline and the unique properties of the metal are represented by a black ring. Accuracy and clarity are needed here. The success of a shot depends not only on physical exertion, but also on the ability of cold thinking, with the help of which the shooter concentrates on the target and strikes the target.

The symbols of the Olympic Games are known to each of us. For example, everyone knows what an Olympic emblem looks like, a flag, or what an anthem sounds like. However, not everyone knows what exactly the rings symbolize, and therefore more on that later.

History of the Olympic emblem

Sports competitions were held between people thousands of years ago. One of the first and most famous are the Olympic Games, which took place in Ancient Greece and Rome. After the disappearance of the represented empires, the competition was suspended. They were renewed already at the end of the 19th century (or rather, in 1896) by Pierre de Coubertin.

The same man developed the Olympic rings in 1913, which are otherwise called the emblem. They are located in the center of the flag of the Olympic Movement and represent 5 intertwined rings.

What do rings look like?

They are arranged in 2 consecutive rows. Wherein:

3 of them - blue, yellow and black are located at the top;
2 - green and red - are located in the bottom row.

The rings are connected in a single chain, representing the letter W. In this case, the outermost of the hoops (blue and red) intersect with only 1 of the other rings. The rings are located in the center - each with 2 other symbols of the emblem.

All about symbolism

The rings represent the union, the unity of the 5 parts of the world, as well as the worldwide focus of the Olympic Games. At the same time, contrary to one of the most common versions, each of the symbols does not belong to any particular continent or part of the world. More on this later.

So, each of the 6 colors (together with a white background on the panel) are combined in such a way as to represent the national shades of all states of the world.

In accordance with the International Olympic Committee - IOC - the fundamental idea of the emblem should be considered the ingraining of the idea that the Olympic Movement is an international campaign that unites everyone “under its wing”. Each of the states of the world can participate in this international competition. Including the Olympic Charter itself (the body of law) indicates that:

The Olympic rings are relevant because they symbolize the unity of the 5 continents;
additional interpretation of the emblem is a symbol of the gathering of athletes from all countries to participate in the Olympic Games.

A strict code has been developed that deals with the use of the represented symbol. It must be followed by all international organizations, athletes and government officials under all circumstances. One of the most striking examples should be considered that even if the Olympic hoops are depicted on a black or dark background, the ring of the presented shade cannot be replaced with an object of a different color. In the modern history of the existence of the Olympic Games, there has not yet been a single case of violation of this norm. In extreme cases, do not significantly change the shade of the emblem.

In the words of de Coubertin himself: “5 rings of different shades are intertwined with each other - blue, yellow, black, green, red. They are placed on a solid white field, reminiscent of the background of a sheet of paper. These 5 symbols represent each of the parts of the world. It is they who are currently cultivating the desire for Olympism and are ready to accept healthy competition and fight honestly, conquering new heights. "

Carl Jung's interpretation

Carl Jung, the most famous scientist of the 20th century, who lived at the same time as de Coubertin, proposed to perceive 5 rings as specific energies - earth, water, fire, wood and metal. It is they who are united in the symbol known today. In addition, in 1912 Jung proposed his own perception of competition, which is also often referred to as pentathlon. In his words, an athlete who is an Olympian had to be versatile. As such, he must be proficient in any of the 5 fundamental sports. It's about swimming, fencing, jumping, running and shooting.

Within this:

swimming corresponds to a blue tint;
fencing - red;
jumping - green;
I run - yellow;
shooting - black.

The presented interpretation of the emblem, however, focuses more on the international scale of the Olympic competitions. She focused on the abilities and results of a certain person who deserves to be called the winner of the Olympic Games.

Religious interpretation of the emblem

Deciphering the symbolism of the rings from a Christian point of view is very popular. It sounds like this:

black symbolizes the sin that separates man from God. In this regard, even at the Olympics, scandals and intrigues occur;
red is the blood that Jesus Christ shed on the cross in order for people to forgive all their sins;
blue is the Holy Spirit dwelling in everyone after baptism. It will provide an opportunity to achieve high results not only in sports, but also in life in general;
green symbolizes spiritual growth in the process of knowing the Lord;
yellow looks like a gold plated Olympic medal and is a symbol of the victory of peace and pacifism.

The most common inaccuracies in understanding the logo

Until 1951, official sources claimed that the shades of the rings correspond to different parts of the world. So, Europe - blue, Asia - yellow, Africa - black, Australia - green, and America - red. However, already at the end of the 50s, this certificate was deleted, since there was no evidence that de Coubertin assumed such a distribution of shades.

In addition, another common misconception is that, as many believe, in the early years before the start of the competition, the rings were interchanged. Their location has remained unchanged since the creation of the emblem.

Thus, the presented symbolism of intertwined rings is a symbol of peace and unity of people in the name of a certain idea. It implies fair competition, partnership and striving forward to achieve new results.

Almost 96 years after their introduction, many of us are still unaware of the meaning of the Olympic rings. To find out what the Olympic rings mean and how they relate to the concept of the Olympic Games, read on ...

The Olympic Games, popularly known as the Olympics, are a major sporting event in which thousands of athletes from all over the world compete in a variety of sports. There are two variants of this international sporting event - the Olympic Summer and Winter Olympic Games, each of which takes place alternately every two years.

History of Olympic Games

The modern Olympic Games that we see today are the invention of the Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin, who was inspired by the ancient Olympic festivals and decided to revive them. Many attempts have been made to revive the game, but only Coubertin's efforts bore fruit in the late 19th century, only thanks to his persistence. After all, the International Olympic Committee was founded in 1894 and the first modern Olympic Games were held two years later, in 1896 in Athens.

Olympic Games Symbols

A wide variety of symbols are used to represent games: badges, flags, flames and other symbols that are used by the International Olympic Committee to promote the game throughout the year and especially during games. The motto of the Olympic Games is Citius, Altius, Fortius, which in Latin means: "Faster, higher, stronger." An Olympic emblem is a design created by integrating Olympic rings with one or more distinctive elements. The Olympic torch is received on all continents and escorted to the venue to light the Olympic flame and start the games. The Olympic flag, which was created by Coubertin himself, sports five intertwined rings on a white background.

What do the Olympic rings mean

The five intertwined rings that are depicted
on the flag of the Olympics are known as the Olympic rings. These rings are colored in blue, yellow, black, green and Red color, and intertwined with each other, in principle are the 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 were not considered. Despite the lack of a specific color to a specific continent or region, various theories about the meaning of the color of the Olympic rings tend to associate them with different quotes. For example, at least one of the five colors among the Olympic rings appears on the flag of each of the participating countries. Five Olympic rings were adopted in 1914 and made their debut at the Belgian Olympics in 1920.

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

The rationale behind 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, stating that they represent the union of the five continents, as well as the gathering of athletes from all over the world for the Olympic Games. There is a strict code regarding the use of this symbol, which must be followed under all circumstances. For example, even if the Olympic rings are depicted against a black background, the black ring should not be replaced with a ring of a different color.

source ru.wikipedia.org