Why are there five rings in the Olympic symbol? What does it mean?

The Olympic symbol consists of five rings which together are also known as Olympic rings. These five interlaced rings are the visual ambassador of the Olympic Movement for the whole world and are based on the design first created by Pierre de Coubertin in 1913.

Definition of Olympic rings

As per the Olympic Charter, the definition of the Olympic rings is: “The Olympic symbol consists of five interlaced rings of equal dimensions (the Olympic rings), used alone, in one or in five different colours. When used in its five-colour version, these colours shall be, from left to right, blue, yellow, black, green and red. The rings are interlaced from left to right; the blue, black and red rings are situated at the top, the yellow and green rings at the bottom in accordance with the following graphic reproduction.”

Meaning of Olympic rings

The Olympic Charter describes the meaning as: “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.”

Despite the Olympic Charter describing the Olympic symbol as the "union of the five continents," it would be wrong to say that each of the colours corresponds to a specific continent. When the rings were created in 1913, they represented the colours of the flags of all nations at that time on a white background.

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