Why is the pentagram the symbol for the Olympic Games?

Answer 1

FYI, the emblem of the Olympic Games — five interlocking rings (blue, yellow, black, green, and red respectively) on a white field. This was originally designed in 1913 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, but gained widespread popularity due to its promotion by Nazi Germany.[1] Upon its initial introduction, de Coubertin stated the following in the August, 1913 edition of Revue Olympique:

The emblem chosen to illustrate and represent the world Congress of 1914 ...: five intertwined rings in different colours - blue, yellow, black, green, red - are placed on the white field of the paper. These five rings represent the five parts of the world which now are won over to Olympism and willing to accept healthy competition.
In his article published in the "Olympic Revue" the official magazine of the International Olympic Committee in November 1992, the American historian Robert Barney explains that the idea of the interlaced rings came to Pierre de Coubertin when he was in charge of the USFSA (Union des Sociétés Française de Sports Athlétiques) an association founded by the union of a two French sports associations and until 1925, responsible for representing the International Olympic Committee in France: The emblem of the union was two interlaced rings (like the typical interlaced marriage rings) and originally the idea of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung because for him the ring meant continuity and the human being.[2]

"The Olympic flag [...] has a white background, with five interlaced rings in the centre : blue, yellow, black, green and red [...] This design is symbolic ; it represents the five continents of the world, united by Olympism, while the six colours are those that appear on all the national flags of the world at the present time." (1931) Textes choisis II, p.470.

The 1914 Congress had to be suspended due to the outbreak of World War I, but the flag and emblem were later adopted. They would first officially debut at the VIIth Olympiad in Antwerp, Belgium in 1920.

The emblem's popularity and widespread use began during the lead-up to the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Carl Diem, president of the Organizing Committee of the 1936 Summer Olympics, wanted to hold a torchbearers' ceremony in the stadium at Delphi, site of the famous oracle, where the Pythian Games were also held. For this reason he ordered construction of a milestone with the Olympic rings carved in the sides, and that a torchbearer should carry the flame along with an escort of three others from there to Berlin. The ceremony was celebrated but the stone was never removed. Later, two British authors Lynn and Gray Poole when visiting Delphi in the late 1950s saw the stone and reported in their "History of the Ancient Games" that the Olympic rings design came from ancient Greece. This has become known as "Carl Diem's Stone".[3][1] This created a myth that the symbol had an ancient Greek origin. The rings would subsequently be featured prominently in Nazi images in 1936 as part of an effort to glorify the Third Reich.

The current view of the International Olympic Committee is that the flag "reinforces the idea" that the Olympic Movement is international and welcomes all countries of the world to join.[4] As can be read in the Olympic Charter, the Olympic symbol represents the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world at the Olympic Games. However, no continent is represented by any specific ring. Though colourful explanations about the symbolism of the coloured rings exist, the only connection between the rings and the continents is that the number five refers to the number of continents. In this scheme, the Americas are viewed as a single continent, and Antarctica is omitted.

Answer 2

Sorry but the pentagram is not the symbol of the Games...
I think you are getting confused with the inverted pentagram..
Even so the inverted pentagram is not the symbol of the games...It is five different coloured rings....
Blessed Be.. )O(

Answer 3

The symbol for the Olympics composed of five inter-locked rings each of a different colour, represents the five main continents of the earth - Eurasia, Africa, Australia, the Americas and Antarctica.

Answer 4

http://www.technologystudent.com/despro2/olymp2.htm

These are the Olympic symbols. Pentagram? Where did that come from?

atheist

The Atheist Bible, it could be said, has but one word: "THINK." - Emmett Fields

Answer 5

it is not pentagram their r 5 rings for 5 continents

Answer 6

Eh? As far as I know the olympic games symbol is five interlocking rings coloured - blue, yellow, black, green and red.

Answer 7

and i though the Olympic symbol was 5 circles interlocked

Answer 8

it isn't. i mean, have you ever actually looked and compared the two symbols? they're not the same at all. the interlocking rings symbolise the different continents, as stated above.

Answer 9

It's not.

8-\

Answer 10

Not sure whats worse, Da Vinci code Dan Brown or Bible -Anonymous?