The Excellent Symbol in Sports: Pierre de Coubertin’s Rings

Abstract

Baron de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, made many attempts to make the games more effective and recognizable. One of these attempts is the design of the Olympic flag, because there was a need for a visual symbol. The idea of Olympism created by Coubertin aims to interlock the world with the bonds of love and friendship as a result of the unity of mind, soul and body. This ideal which also constitutes the meaning infrastructure of the rings, is coded on six different colors and five rings. It can be said that the intellectual origin of the rings is based on the institutions Coubertin was in and on some symbols and visuals he witnessed. The rings first appeared in two letters Coubertin sent to a close friend. They were then formally announced in a written declaration in 1913 and introduced at the 1914 Paris convention. The flag was first waved at a sporting event in Egypt, at a non-Olympic event. After that the usage areas of the rings expanded considerably. The Olympic Games in Antwerp in 1920 and in Paris in 1924 increased the popularity of the flag and it was used in many different places. The officialization of the flag also promoted the flag ritual over time. The attempt to associate the ring symbol with the ancient Olympic Games remained a mistake. The aim of the study is to bring to the forefront the birth and developmental stages of the world's most popular flag, the Olympic flag with five rings, along with the ideas, contradictions, and disagreements found in the literature on the subject, and to provide a clearer and more understandable chronological structure.