The Olympic Games are referred to as the Olympic Games, which include the Summer Olympics, Winter Olympics, Paralympics, Youth Olympics and Special Olympics. It is an international games organized by the International Olympic Committee, which includes a variety of sports, and is held once every four years. The Olympic Games originated in Ancient Greece (776 B.C.), and were named after Olympia, where they were held, and were founded by Baron Coubertin of France at the end of the 19th century as the modern Olympic Games in the true sense of the word. Since 1896, the Olympic Games have been held every four years (with three interruptions during the two world wars, in 1916, 1940 and 1944) for a period of no more than 16 days. Since the Winter Olympic Games were established in 1924, the Olympic Games are also known as the Summer Olympic Games. The Olympic Games have now become a symbol of peace and friendship.
The Five Olympic Rings
The Olympic Movement has a series of unique and distinctive symbolic symbols, such as the Olympic logo, motto, Olympic flag, anthem, emblem, medals, mascots and so on. These symbols have rich cultural meanings, and they symbolize the value orientation and cultural connotation of the Olympic ideal.
The Olympic Charter stipulates that the property rights of the Olympic Symbol, the Olympic Flag, the Olympic Motto and the Olympic Anthem belong exclusively to the IOC. The IOC may take all appropriate measures to obtain legal protection for the Olympic symbol, flag, motto and anthem at the national and international levels.
Today, the most widely spread symbols are the five Olympic rings, which have become the image of the Olympic spirit and culture with the development of the Olympic movement, and wherever the five rings "turn", the Olympic movement takes root and blossoms.
Speaking of the origin of the five rings, there was an interesting story. In 1936, the 11th Berlin Olympic Games for the first time held a torch relay activities, the torch relay route from Olympia, from the northern Greece out of the country, along the Danube River through Austria, and finally into Germany. In order to set the stage for this symbolic event, Karl Diem, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games, and his colleagues almost entirely in accordance with the scenario of the ancient Olympic Games to set up the ancient Greek sites along the way.
When the torch arrived at the ancient stadium on Mount Delphi Parnassus for a special ceremony, Diem had the idea of designing and engraving the five rings of the modern Olympic movement on all sides of a rectangular stone about 3 feet high, which was placed at one end of the starting line of the ancient stadium. After the ceremony, the torch continued its journey north while the stone, which was used as a prop, was left at the ancient stadium.
Since very few people knew the true identity of the stone with the five rings (later called the "stone of Dim"), it was for a long time thereafter treated as a "3,000-year-old relic of the ancient Olympic Games". This falsehood was not pointed out by Greek officials in Delphi until the 1960s, when, in May 1972, the fake artifact was sent to another part of Delphi, the entrance to the Roman Forum.
In fact, the five rings symbol of the modern Olympic movement is attributed to Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games. The idea that the Olympic movement should have its own symbol had been in his mind for a long time, and in 1913 he finally conceived the idea of a five-ringed logo and an Olympic flag with five rings on a white background, which he intended to launch on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the founding of the IOC.
On June 15-23, 1914, the IOC held a congress at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, while celebrating the 20th anniversary of the founding of the IOC. At the commemorative congress, Coubertin excitedly took out his own design of the five rings logo and a flag printed with five rings to show everyone, and suggested that they be used as the symbol of the Olympic movement. After listening to Coubertin's explanation, the meeting determined that the five Olympic rings and the Olympic flag should be used as the Olympic symbol.
The Five Olympic Rings symbol consists of five Olympic rings snapped together from left to right, either in a single color or in five colors: blue, yellow, black, green and red. The initial explanation is that the five colors represent the colors of the national flags of the countries, and later the five different colors of the rings are explained as the symbols of the five continents. The official website of the Olympics suggests that the statement "each ring represents a corresponding continent" is incorrect. (See the entry for "Olympic rings."
The flag is 3 meters long and 2 meters wide, with a white background to symbolize purity. The five rings, blue, yellow, black, green and red, are interlocked. the Olympic flag was first flown at the Olympic Congress in Paris in 1914, and flew for the first time at the Summer Olympics stadium in Antwerp in 1920. After this Olympic Games, the Belgian Olympic Committee presented the IOC with an identical flag, which was flown during the Olympic Games, and later became customized, the opening ceremony of each Olympic Games by the previous host city to transfer this flag, preserved by the host city, the main stadium during the competition only hangs a substitute. 1952, the city of Oslo presented the IOC with the flag of the Winter Olympic Games, the handing over, preservation and use of the same method as in the Summer Olympic Games.
In June 1979, the IOC officially announced the meaning of the flag and the five rings: according to the Olympic Charter, the Olympic flag and the five rings are meant to symbolize the unity of the five continents as well as the athletes from all over the world meeting at the Olympic Games in a spirit of fairness, frank play and friendship.
The origin of the Olympic Games
Legend: The ancient Olympic Games was a regular sports competition held in honor of Zeus. Another legend has to do with Zeus' son, Heracles. Hercules was known as "Hercules" because of his great strength. He accomplished a task in the city-state of Elis that no man could accomplish, and in less than half a day's work, he cleaned up the king's barn full of cow dung, but the king did not want to fulfill the promise of 300 cows, Herakles drove the king away in anger. To celebrate his victory, he held games at the Olympics.
The most widely circulated story about the origins of the ancient Olympics is the story of Pelops' marriage. The ancient Greek king of Elis in order to choose his daughter a civil and military team of horse harnessed by the side of a team, proposed that the candidate must be and their own chariot race. During the race, 13 young men lost their lives under the king's spear, and the 14th young man was Pelops, the grandson of Zeus and the princess's sweetheart. Inspired by love, he bravely accepted the king's challenge and finally won with his wits. In order to celebrate this victory, Pelops and the princess in front of the temple of Zeus in Olympia held a grand wedding, the meeting arranged a chariot, jousting and other items of the competition, which is the original ancient Olympic Games, Pelops became the legendary founder of the ancient Olympic Games.
The origin of the Olympic Games, in fact, has a close relationship with the social situation in ancient Greece. In the 9th-8th centuries BC, Greek clan society gradually disintegrated, and the city-state system of slave society gradually took shape, with the establishment of more than 200 city-states. The city-states were governed separately without a unified monarch, and there were constant wars among them. In order to cope with the wars, each city-state actively trained its soldiers. Children in the Spartan city-states were raised by the state from the age of seven and were engaged in sports and military training, leading a military life. War needed soldiers, soldiers needed strong bodies, and sports were a powerful means of training capable soldiers. The war promoted the development of Greek sports, and the competition programs of the ancient Olympic Games carried a clear military imprint. The people were disgusted by the continuous fighting and generally longed for a peaceful environment in which to recuperate. Later, the king of Sparta and the king of Elis signed the treaty of "Sacred Truce Month". Thus, the military training and athletic competition for the preparation of soldiers were gradually transformed into games of peace and friendship.
The Greeks decided in 776 BC to organize the games every four years at the Olympic Games. During the Games, all the Greek players and the nearby people gathered in Olympia, a scenic town in southern Greece. When the first Olympic Games were held here in 776 B.C., Clos, a Dorian, won the 192.27-meter sprint. He became the first person to win the first event of the International Olympic Games laurels.
Later, the Ancient Greek Games grew in size and became a show of national spirit. The winners of the games received wreaths of laurel, wild olives, and palms, among other things. Beginning in 776 B.C. and ending in 394 A.D., after 1170 years,*** 293 Ancient Olympic Games were held. They were banned by the Roman Emperor in 394 AD.
From 1875 to 1881, the German Curtius excavated unearthed artifacts at the Olympic site, which aroused worldwide interest. For this reason, the French educator Pierre de Coubertin believes that the restoration of the tradition of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece is of great significance in promoting the development of international sports. Under his advocacy and active campaign, in June 1894, the first International Sports Congress was held in Paris. The International Sports Congress decided to call the world's comprehensive sports games the Olympic Games, and held the first modern Olympic Games in Athens, to be held once every four years, rotating in each Member State.
By 2004, 28 Olympic Games had been held, and in 2008, the 29th will be held in Beijing, China.
The first Olympic charter, initiated and formulated by Coubertin, was adopted in June 1894 at an international conference in Paris. It deals with the basic purposes, principles and other related matters of the Olympic Movement. 1921 Lausanne Olympic Conference, the formulation of the Olympic Law, including the Charter of the Olympic Games, the statutes of the International Olympic Committee, the rules of competition and protocols of the Olympic Games, the general rules for the holding of the Olympic Games, the Olympic Parliamentary Rules and other five parts. Over the decades, the Olympic Law has been amended and supplemented many times, but the basic principles and spirit formulated by Coubertin remain unchanged.
In 1900, at the second Olympic Games held in Paris, 11 women broke the ban and appeared on the sports field. The International Olympic Committee, after several debates, finally in 1924, the 22nd meeting, officially adopted a resolution to allow women to participate in the Olympic Games. Since then, women's programs have become an integral part of the Olympic Games, and more and more female athletes are participating.
With the development of the Olympic movement, the IOC also made many provisions. 1913, according to the concept of Coubertin, the IOC designed the Olympic flag, a white background without edges, the center of the five interlocking rings, the ring of the colors of the sky blue, yellow, black, green, red, the five rings to symbolize the unity of the five continents and the athletes around the world to fair and frank competition and friendly spirit in the Olympic Games meet. 1914, the Olympic Games, the IOC also designed the flag of the Olympic Games, which is a symbol of the Olympic Games. In 1914, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the restoration of the modern Olympic movement, the flag was used for the first time in the Olympic Games held in Paris. 1920 Antwerp Olympic Games, the first five-ringed flag was raised in the stadium, and there were flag handover ceremonies and flag-raising ceremonies at the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in the following years. In order to publicize the Olympic spirit and encourage athletes to participate in the Games, "Faster, Higher, Stronger" was proposed by Coubertin and approved by the International Olympic Committee as the Olympic motto in 1913, and the Archbishop of Pennsylvania said that the Olympic Games would be the first Olympic Games in the world when the Olympic Games were held in London in 1908. In his sermon, the Archbishop of Pennsylvania in the United States said that "participation, not victory, is important" in the Olympic Games, which was greatly appreciated by Coubertin and quoted many times in the future, and therefore many people believe that this phrase should become the Olympic ideal. The athletes' oath was introduced at the 7th Olympic Games in 1920, and the referees' oath was added at the 19th Olympic Games in 1968; at the 11th Olympic Games in 1936, the IOC formally stipulated that the Olympic Flame, a symbol of light, friendship and unity, should be lit at the main venue. Since then this event has become one of the indispensable ceremonies of the opening ceremony of each Olympic Games. Before the start of the Olympic Games, in Olympia, the Greek goddess Hera (wife of Zeus) temple next to a concave mirror to gather sunlight to light the torch after the torch relay, the day before the opening of the Olympic Games to the host city. In the opening ceremony by the host country athletes to take the last stick to light the flame on the tower, the closing ceremony when the flame is extinguished.
Olympic torch
1. Ancient torch relay
As a sacred symbol, the history of fire can be traced back to prehistory. Fire represented creation, regeneration and light in Greek history. In Greek mythology, fire was the sacred symbol of Hephaestus, the gift Prometheus stole from Zeus to give to mankind.
In the center of every ancient Greek city-state, there was an altar with a long burning sacred fire, and every household of the city-state's inhabitants had a long burning sacred fire for Hestia, the goddess of the hearth. The torch relay was first practiced as a religious ceremony at night in Ancient Greece, and it was not long before it was gradually transformed into a team sport, first among young people, and eventually evolved into one of the most popular sports in Ancient Greece.
In the council hall of ancient Olympia there was an altar dedicated to Hestia, whose sacred fire was lit by a concave disk or mirror focusing on the sun's rays. The sacred fire is never extinguished. The process of collecting the sacred fire is very simple, but can be very impressive. The concave smooth plane was able to bring the sunlight to a focal point, and the High Priestess was able to ignite it by extending her torch to the focal point.
The ancient Greeks held torch relay competitions, in which participants had to carry the torch to the finish line. The ancient Greek torch relay was a religious ceremony held every four years to honor the goddess Athena. The power of the flame was carried by the torchbearer in the quickest way possible. The torch relay started at the altar of Prometheus and ended at the altar of the goddess Athena on the Acropolis. At that time, the torch relay by 40 young people from 10 Athenian tribes to complete, the whole one *** 2.5 kilometers.
The modern Olympic flame lighting ceremony is the same as in ancient Greece, and is also lit by a priestess at Olympia, while the Athlete's Oath is read. The Olympic flame is then awarded to the first torchbearer, which marks the official start of the torch relay. To this day, the power of the Olympic torch relay still affects and touches the hearts of millions of people.
2. The Beginning of the Modern Olympic Torch Relay and Its Revival
Today's torch relay and the Olympic Flame, since it is not found in the ancient Olympic Games, where did it all begin? It actually has something to do with the two world wars. The first lighting of the Olympic flame took place in 1920 in honor of the fallen of another world war, and in 1928, the IOC made the lighting of the Olympic flame a mandatory part of the Opening Ceremony.
But the torch relay of the modern Olympic Games also thanks to Nazi Germany: before the 1936 Berlin Olympics, extreme worship of Ancient Greece, especially the Spartans of the Nazi Führer Hitler under the authorization of the head of the Berlin Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games, Dr. Karl Diehm, the two customs of Ancient Greece, pinch together, and create a whole set of Olympic torch relay and the sacred fire ceremony that is used today.
On July 20, 1936, arranged by Nazi Germany, Greek priests and 14 local virgins, dressed in traditional costumes, stood in the ancient Olympic stadium and gathered sunlight with reflections from mirrors to shine on a piece of wood until it was hot and on fire, and the holy virgins were chanting, "O sacred flame, kindled in ancient and sacred places, begin your run."
The Nazis' largest arsenal, Krupp (where the famous Krupp cannon was produced), also contributed to the Olympic Torch Relay, with the Krupp logo on all the torches. After a brief ceremony, this flame was relayed through Greece, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and arrived at the Holy Flame stand at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany, on August 1st, after a succession of 3,075 people.
The Nazi German propaganda machine also made a big deal about this ceremony of passing the flame, and one of the most famous shots in the large-scale documentary Olympia, released in 1938 by the famous female director Leni Riefenstahl of Hitler's Imperial Household, was a Greek relay, running slowly with a torch held up in the twilight of the Aegean Sea.
Although life is closely related to fit Nazi aesthetics, but because she is both classical and sublime rituals, so even after the fall of the Nazis also continued to pass down. 1948, London, which had been repeatedly bombed by the Nazis, held the first Olympic Games after the Second World War, but also continued to follow the old site of Olympia, lighting the fire, the torch relay, and a series of rituals. Today, the torch relay has become a symbol of global solidarity, and people have long forgotten her Nazi origins.
3. The origin of the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay graphic: the heirloom treasure of the dragon and phoenix robe
The phoenix pattern chosen for the Torch Relay graphic came from the Ming Dynasty's imperial gift of Qin Liangyu's flat gold-embroidered python and phoenix shirt. The famous female general of the Ming Dynasty, Qin Liangyu, led the white-rod soldiers in Beijing to work for the king. The dragon and phoenix robe is an imperial gift from the emperor. The torch relay graphics are based on the core graphics of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games plus the traditional Chinese phoenix pattern.
Olympic anthem
The IOC finalized the Olympic Anthem as the Olympic anthem at its 55th Plenary Session held in Tokyo in 1958. The sheet music is stored at the IOC headquarters. Since then, this melodious ancient Greek music has been heard at the opening and closing ceremonies of every Olympic Games. The lyrics of the song are as follows:
Ancient immortal god,
Beautiful, great and righteous father of holiness.
Pray to come down to earth to manifest yourself,
and let the heroes in the limelight be in the firmament of the earth,
as witnesses of your glory.
Illuminate the running, jousting, and throwing events,
the sublime contests of all-out effort.
Present to the winners a crown of olive branches,
shaping a body of steel.
The valleys, mountains, and oceans reflect you,
like a temple built of colorful rocks.
This gigantic shrine,
which people from all over the world come to worship,
Ah! Ah, the ancient gods who will never be forgotten.