Brandi EmbreyHistory of Graphic Design

The Olympic RingsThe Olympic Rings are recognizable around the globe. They represent theunion of the five habitable continents and the meeting of athletes throughout theworld. This paper will give a brief history of the Rings creator as well as explainthe history behind the Rings including the rules and regulations. The Rings werealso used in many different places that the International Olympic Committeeagreed on.Participation of the Olympic Games was limited to the Greeks only, butwhen the Romans overthrew the Greeks, the Olympics suffered in popularity. In393AD the Roman Emperor Theodosius I ordered the Games to end. It was in1892 when the idea of bringing back the Olympic Games was brought outpublicly by Baron Pierre de Coubertin.In 1913, Pierre de Coubertin, who was the founder of the modern OlympicGames, designed five interlocking rings of blue, yellow, black, green and red on a

Brandi EmbreyHistory of Graphic Design

white field. Each of the five rings represents the five continents of the world, theAmericas are counted as one and Antarctica is omitted. The six colors shownare 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 beenset. One is the exact position of each ring. They were first designed to beconnected 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 yellowand green rings are at the bottom. Each ring is connected to the next. The ringscannot be used without the International Olympic Committee’s authorization. *The Olympic Rings are recognized around the globe as the symbol for theOlympic Games. They were adopted in 1914, where Pierre de Coubertinpresented the rings and the flag in Paris, France. They were used in the 1920Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium. They were supposed to be used in the1916 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 EmbreyHistory of Graphic Design

fighting of World War I. This time and for two summers Games and two winterGames during World War II were the only times the Olympics were canceled.Germany wan not invited to the Olympics in London following the second worldwar. The rings and flag conveyed universality and nationalism in a time whentension between certain countries was high. Coubertin aimed to encourage worldunity with his design.**An Olympic Flag featuring the Olympic Rings is raised during eachopening of the Games and lowered during the closing ceremonies. For theOlympic Oath a second flag is used. These special flags are kept in the city hallsof the host city. A ceremony called the “Antwerp Ceremony” (because it started inAntwerp, Belgium) is where the mayor of the hosting city returns the flag to thepresident of the International Olympic Committee who in turn passes it along tothe mayor of the next city to host the Games. There are three such flags that arepart of this ceremony, each featuring the rings along with their own design. TheAntwerp Flag was presented in the Summer Olympics in 1920, in the LosAngeles closing ceremony in 1984 and was passed on in the Summer Olympics