Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the French educational reformer who founded the modern Olympic Movement in 1894, was very passionate about design and took a personal interest in ensuring that the imaging tradition of the Olympic Games advanced along with the sports tradition. In 1913, he designed the Olympic rings and introduced them on a white flag at a meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Paris. The five interlocking rings represent the bond of friendship established between the five continents (the number recognized at the time) as they join in the celebration of the Games. The color palette—blue, black, red, gold and green rings plus the white background—reflect at least one color found in the flags of every nation on earth.
Today, the Olympic rings are one of the most recognized and admired symbols around the world—and research has shown that they still stand for friendship and peace through sport. The addition of the rings to the Chicago 2016 logo—a right conferred by the Candidate City status that Chicago just attained—is an honor that bestows worldwide recognition of Chicago’s ambition to become the next Host City of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.