Withe
games less than a week away, you see the Olympic rings everywhere! The
symbol was an invention of Baron de Coubertin, who spurred the revival
of the ancient Greek games as the modern Olympics in the late 19th
century.
After the 1912 Stockholm Games—the first Games featuring
athletes from all five inhabited parts of the world—a design of five
interlocked rings, drawn and colored by hand, appeared at the top of a
letter Coubertin sent to a colleague. Coubertin used his ring design as
the emblem of the IOC’s 20th anniversary celebration in 1914. A year
later, it became the official Olympic symbol.
The rings were to be used on flags and signage at the 1916 Games, but
those games were cancelled because of the ongoing World War. The rings
made a belated debut at the 1920 Games in Antwerp, Belgium.
Read more about the rings, including how they were confused for an
ancient symbol, what the colors mean, and the rules for their use at
Mental Floss.
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