paris-2024-olympic-games:-the-meaning-of-the-five-rings-and-their-coloursParis 2024 Olympic Games: the meaning of the five rings and their colours
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By Alfredo Di Cesare

22 Jul 2024, 18:48 PM EDT

With Euro 2024 and Copa America 2024 behind us, the Paris Olympics are the last major sporting event of the summer. A few days before the opening ceremony, El Diario explains the meaning of the Olympic rings and their colours.

The Olympic rings are perhaps one of the most well-known symbols in the world. Each of them represents a continent: Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania.

Interestingly, since the 1968 Mexico Olympics, the five rings have been coloured. The original 1913 design by Baron Pierre de Coubertin was colourless.

What do the colors mean?

Each ring and each color represents a different continent. In the case of blue, it is for Europe, yellow for Asia, black for Africa, green for Oceania and red for the American continent.

Another peculiarity is that they are intertwined. This also has a reason for being. The interconnection of the Olympic rings was done with the intention of representing unity among athletes from all over the world, leaving aside their nationality, race, religion or language.

French athletes gather near the Olympic rings as they visit the Olympic Village at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 22, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool)
French athletes gather near the Olympic rings while visiting the Olympic Village, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 22, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool)
Credit: AP

The opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will take place this week, on Friday, July 26, to be exact. It will last about three hours and will take place outside a stadium for the first time. It will be on the River Seine.

Nearly 100 boats carrying around 10,500 athletes will float along the Seine during the parade. The largest of the 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) represented at the parade will have boats to themselves, while the smallest will share a boat.

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