Rio 2016: What does the Olympics logo mean?

Everything you need to know about the Olympics rings

The Olympic Rings rise above Madureira Park, Rio de Janeiro (Getty)

What’s the origin of the logo?

After the birth of the International Olympics Committee at the 1896 Sports Congress, one of its founders, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, proposed the idea for a unified motto and symbol to reflect the unified International Olympic Community.

The famous five interlocking rings were displayed in 1914 accompanied by the Latin ‘Citius, altius, fortius’ (meaning ‘faster, higher, stronger).

What does it represent?

The interlocking nature of the rings are seen as emblematic of unity between the participating countries.

However, De Coubertin attached more significance to the blue, green, black, yellow and red colours.

He believed that, combined with the white background, they formed the colours of every nation’s flag.

What about each Games’ logo?

They must precisely balance boldness with elegance and, just as Star Wars' new crossguard lightsaber provoked a maelstrom of excitement and rage from the dedicated fan base and ‘Wookieepedians’, each new iteration is subjected to intense scrutiny.

Several have provoked significant criticism.

This was true with the London 2012 logo, which took a year to design. However, the jagged, fragmented design was initially declared the ‘Oh no logo’ as well as the ‘emblem of controversy’ and even triggered a petition calling for a redesign.