SPORDA ZİRVE SEMBOL: PİERRE DE COUBERTİN’İN HALKALARI

Abstract

Baron de Coubertin who is the founder of the modern Olympic Games, made so many attempts to make the games more effective and known. 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 unite the world through the bonds of love and friendship as a result of the unity of mind, soul and body. This ideal which is also the infrastructure of the meaning of the rings, is encoded on six different colors and five rings. It can be said that the intellectual origin of the rings is based on the institutions in which Coubertin participated and on some symbols and images he saw. The rings first appeared in two letters written by Coubertin to his close friend. They were then formally announced in a written statement in 1913 and introduced at the Paris Congress of 1914. The flag was first waved at a sporting event in Egypt, at a non-Olympic event. After that, the areas of use 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 was a significant mistake.