Have you ever wondered what the Olympic Rings meant?

Even though NBC is doing the broadcasting of the Olympics in America in a delayed and edited and...incredibly obnoxious fashion (what--you don't yell at Ryan Seacrest?) the basic Olympic stuff gets through. Sort of. If you can wait up for it. And not yell at the inane questions they ask the Olympians. I mean seriously, "How does it feel to win a gold medal?" What are they going to say "Oh, absolutely awful, won't do it again. Can't stand it, darling". Ugh!

There's all sorts of rules about the Olympics, logos, and anything that could link to them. Like, you can't sell Olympic themed merchandise without permission. They're HEAVILY trademarked. Strange but it makes perfect sense.

The Olympic Rings, the five interlocking rings, have a fun back story which I didn't know before I was browsing the internet to avoid thinking about buying a coat (because it's going to cold this winter!). I'm damn good at procrastination.

Olympic Rings via Wikipedia

There are five colors and then the white background that represents all the colors of the countries that competed in the Olympics in 1912. The design was created by Pierre de Coubertin, who also is the founder of the International Olympic Committee and in theory the founder of the modern Olympic games, and the owner of a spectacular mustache.

Pierre de Coubertin, via Wikipedia

Isn't that fun to know. Don't you wish the NBC people talked about stuff like that? Or maybe they do. But I'm asleep by the time that happens.

Paralympic Symbol via Wikipedia

The Paralympics are also happening this summer and this is their flag/symbol. Which is new, from 2003. It's about unity and motion and the colors are the most common flag colors in the world.

Lab 42 made this infographic based on a poll they did from 500 social media users. I only feel bad for not picking up on what an Olympiad was, but I knew everything else question wise. Go me!

Via Lab 42

Links:

• Wikipedia article on the Olympic symbols such as the rings, flags, anthems, medals and mascots
• Wikipedia article on the Paralymic symbols such as the symbol, history, oath and anthem
• Times article, Who Made the Olympic Rings, about Pierre de Coubertin and other tidbits (Nazis and Dunlop tires)
• Pierre de Courbertin Wikipeida page
• Olympic Symbols -The Five Interlocking Rings from the Olympist