How many rings appear in the Olympic symbol?

The Olympic symbol contains five interlocking rings. They are arranged in two rows, with three rings above and two below, forming the emblem used by the Olympic movement.

Pierre de Coubertin introduced the rings in 1913, and they appeared publicly on the Olympic flag at the 1920 Antwerp Games. The interlocking design represents the meeting of athletes and the union of the world’s inhabited continents through sport.

A common misconception is that each ring officially corresponds to a particular continent. The Olympic Charter states that the symbol represents the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes, but it does not assign one specific continent to each colored ring. The six colors used in the flag—blue, yellow, black, green, red, plus the white background—were selected because every national flag could include at least one of them.