With just a year to go until the next Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, let’s take a look at the Olympic Flag, which is one of the world’s most recognisable symbols.
The five rings design was created in 1912 by the founder of the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin.
The Baron said this about his design: ‘The six colours (white, blue, yellow, black, green and red) combined make up the colours of all the nations, no exceptions. Here is an international symbol.’
In contrast, the pre-1951 official Olympic handbook suggested that each ring represented a continent: Europe (blue), Asia (yellow), Africa (black), Oceania (green) and the Americas (red).
Without evidence that this was de Coubertin’s intention, however, this statement disappeared from later editions.
Two years after designing the Olympic Flag, de Coubertin presented it officially at the 1914 Olympic Congress in Paris.
The Belgian city of Antwerp, which hosted the 1920 Olympics, gave a flag to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Although a new flag was made for the 1924 Paris Olympics, it was still known as the ‘Antwerp Flag’.
This flag was retired at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, and replaced by the ‘Seoul Flag’.
The ‘Seoul Flag’ is currently used in the Antwerp Ceremony, which takes place during each closing ceremony.
It’s the official handover of the Olympic Flag from the current host city to the next.
Unveiled at the 1952 Winter Olympics, the Oslo Flag is still used for the Winter Olympics, while the Singapore Flag first appeared during the closing ceremony of the inaugural Youth Olympics in 2010.
Flag in a suitcase
The whereabouts of the original Antwerp Flag was a mystery for 77 years.
At a 1997 US Olympic Committee banquet a reporter mentioned to his interviewee, 1920 men’s 10m Platform Diving bronze medallist Hal Haig ‘Harry’ Prieste, that the I.O.C. hadn’t been able to find the 1920 Antwerp Flag.
“I can help you with that. It’s in my suitcase.” Replied Prieste, who after being spurred on by team-mate (and double Olympic Swimming Champion) Duke Kahanamoku, climbed the flagpole and simply stole the flag.
For the next 80 years it resided in Prieste’s suitcase.
Aged 103, Prieste returned the flag to the IOC in a special ceremony at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
In return he received a commemorative medal, and he passed away the following April.
The Antwerp Flag is now on display in the Olympic museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. A plaque thanks Prieste for his donation.
Author: Alex Crouch (Flag Institute accredited journalist, 2015/16)
