What do the Olympic rings mean?

Pierre de Coubertin designed the symbol in 1913, and the five interlocking rings represent the five inhabited continental regions as they were conventionally counted, united by the Olympic movement. The persistent belief that each color corresponds to a specific continent is not what Coubertin described. His stated reasoning was that the six colors, the five ring colors plus the white background, together included at least one color from the flag of every nation participating at the time, which made the emblem universal rather than assigning continents to colors.

The flag first flew at the 1920 Antwerp Games, delayed by the First World War, and the emblem has become one of the most recognized symbols in the world, which is also why it is aggressively protected. The rings are trademarked and their commercial use is restricted by international agreement and by national statutes, including the Ted Stevens Act in the United States, and the International Olympic Committee enforces those rights vigorously against unauthorized use, including against businesses using the word Olympic in unrelated contexts.

Two related symbols round out the set. The Olympic motto was long Citius, Altius, Fortius, meaning faster, higher, stronger, to which Communiter, meaning together, was added in 2021. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia in Greece using a parabolic mirror and sunlight, then carried by relay to the host city, a ceremony that draws on ancient practice but whose modern torch relay format was introduced for the 1936 Berlin Games. The oath, the release of doves, and the parade of nations with Greece leading and the host nation last are the other recurring ceremonial elements.