Blue, black, red, yellow, green - the colors of the Olympic rings

The birthplace of the Olympic Games is the sanctuary of the ancient Greeks - Olympia. It is located in the west of the Peloponnese Peninsula. This place on the banks of the river Alphey, right at the foot of the sacred mountain of Kronos, and is still a place where the eternal flame burns, from which the fire of the Olympic Games is lit from time to time and the torch relay torch starts. The tradition of holding such sports competitions revived in the late nineteenth century by the French Baron de Coubertin. He was a famous public figure of that era. And since then, every 4 years, the Olympic Games are held. And since 1924 they started organizing winter competitions.

Olympic symbols

Along with the revival of the Olympic tradition, the corresponding symbols appeared: a flag, a slogan, a hymn, medals, talismans, an emblem, etc. All of them were created with the purpose of promoting this sport idea all over the world. By the way, the official emblem of the Olympic Games is five colored rings, interwoven in such a way that two rows are formed from them. The upper one consists of three rings, and the lower one, naturally, consists of two rings.

The colors of the Olympic rings

At the mention of the Olympics, everyone first of all recalls the emblem - woven rings of blue, black, scarlet, yellow and green colors, depicted on a white background. Nevertheless, not everyone knows the exact meaning of the colors of the Olympic rings. There are several versions. Each of them is not devoid of logic and can pretend to be considered correct. Below we present to your attention some of them.

1. According to this version, the colors of the Olympic rings symbolize the continents. That is, it means that people from all over the world can become participants in these games, or rather from all parts of the world, except Antarctica. Let's imagine what shades correspond to each of the continents? It turns out? And now we'll check if you were able to correctly orient yourself. So what is the color of the Olympic rings? Europe is blue, America is red, Africa is black, Australia is green, and Asia is yellow.
2. Another version is associated with the name of the famous psychologist K. Young. He is credited with not only an idea explaining the choice of a particular color, but also the creation of the very symbolism. According to this version, Jung, being an expert in Chinese philosophy, proposed emblems as emblems - symbols of greatness and energy. The choice of the number of rings was associated with five different energies (wood, water, metal, fire and earth), which are spoken of in Chinese philosophy. In addition, Jung in 1912 proposed the idea of pentathlon, that is, it was believed that each of the participants in the competition should master the following sports: swimming, jumping, fencing, running and shooting. The colors of the Olympic rings, according to this theory, correspond to each of these sports, as well as one of the above five energies. As a result, the following chains were obtained: swimming-water-blue, jumping-tree-green, running-earth-yellow, fencing-fire-red, shooting-metal-black.
3. The third version is like an addition to the first. It is believed that the colors of the Olympic rings are all those shades that contain the flags of all countries of the world. Again, this means that participants can be athletes from all countries of the world without exception.

Agree that all versions are interesting, but it does not matter which of them is correct. The main thing is that these games unite all the peoples of the world. And let their representatives fight only in sports stadiums, and on our planet there will always be peace.