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Games of the XXVII Olympiad: Sydney 2000

Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics

Last modified: 2005-07-09 by juan manuel gabino villascán
Keywords: olympic games | sydney | greece | athens | australia | australia aboriginal | torres strait islanders | uno | atlanta |
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[Flag for Sydney 2000.]
by Zach Harden, 26 June 2001.


See:

See also:

Other sites:


The Olympic flag:

[The Olympic flag]
by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, July 2005.
Flag adopted: 1914.

The Olympic flag was visible everywhere. It was hoisted in the Stadium for the duration of the game, it was flown at each Olympic event, in the Olympic Village, and all over Sydney. And finally, during the Closing Ceremony the Seoul flag was passed on to the Mayor of Athens, where the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad will be held in 2004.
{1}


A two-colour version of the Olympic flag

[Olympic flag in Blue and
White.]
by Mark Sensen, recoloured by Ivan Sache, 16 September 2000

The Opening Ceremony of Sydney 2000 began with a group of 120 horsemen bearing flags riding into the stadium. The riders formed a series of patterns, with flags flying, among which the Olympic Rings. Their flags were two-coloured Olympic flags: A Blue Olympic Symbol on a White field. {3}


Olympic banners

While I was looking for information about the flag of Liverpool City (NSW, AU), about which, according to the minutes of a meeting in March 2000, a Victor Lampe was going to investigate something and provide information to a Mr Durrant, I came across something about the Olympic Banners that were all over Sydney this time last year. Personally, I don't consider them flags, but since we discussed them then, from http://www.liverpool.nsw.gov.au/council/press/2000/17ajul.htm (17 July 2000):

As part of Liverpool City Council's effort to celebrate the Games in Liverpool, a number of Olympic Banners have been purchased to decorate selected streets of the Liverpool CBD. Liverpool Council is giving local businesses the opportunity to participate in the Olympic Banner Program by becoming an Olympic Banner Sponsor.
The design of the flags was inspired by the vitality of the Australian environment and its people, elegant swirling shapes and concentric forms suggest the vibrant waters of Sydney Harbour. Australian landscape forms and the energy of fire is also apparent in the design. The design suggests flickering flames and the "heat haze" effect often experienced in rural and urban areas of Australia. They are symbolic of the passion demanded for Olympic competition and streamlines, fluid movement of the athletic body in action.

I think quite a few flagpoles were erected around Sydney specifically for these banners. In suburban areas, they are now generally occupied by local council banners or Centenary of Federation banners of a similar nature.

{4}


The Greek flag

[Greek flag.]
by Edward Mooney

At each Opening Ceremony the first flag to enter the stadium in the Parade of Flags is the flag of Greece. And at each Closing Ceremony, when the Olympic flag is passed on to the next host of the Olympic Games a Greek flag is hoisted to symbolize their past. But at Sydney 2000 something unique did happen: The flag hoisted to symbolize the future of the Olympic Games was likewise a Greek flag, since Athens will be the next host of the Olympic Games.
{1, 2}


The Parade of Flags

During the Openings Ceremony all the teams paraded into the stadium behind their flags, and during the Closing Ceremony the flags did so once more. The flags and teams paraded in alphabetical order according to the language of the host country, except for Greece as the origin of the Olympic Games which always leads the parade, and Australia as the host country which closed the parade. The flags themselves all have the same size, and all have the ratio 2:3. For the flag of Nepal, which isn't rectangular, this ratio is used for the hoist and the bottom.
The millions watching the Opening Ceremony saw the flags and athletes enter the stadium in this order:



Sources:
	Codes:		International Olympic Committee Website
	Text:		Rob Raeside and Juan Manuel Gabino. 
			Names got directly from the Opening Ceremony 
			(September 15, 2000).


     Country (English)				     ABR.    
------------------------------------------------------------
  1. Greece GRE
  2. Albania ALB
  3. Algeria ALG
  4. American Samoa ASA
  5. Andorra AND
  6. Angola ANG
  7. Antigua and Barbuda ANT
  8. Argentina ARG
  9. Armenia ARM
  10. Aruba ARU
  11. Austria AUT
  12. Azerbaijan AZE
  13. Bahamas BAH
  14. Bahrain BRN
  15. Bangladesh BAN
  16. Barbados BAR
  17. Belarus BLR
  18. Belgium BEL
  19. Belize BIZ
  20. Benin BEN
  21. Bermuda BER
  22. Bhutan BHU
  23. Bolivia BOL
  24. Bosnia and Hercegovina BIH
  25. Botswana BOT
  26. Brazil BRA
  27. British Virgin Islands IVB
  28. Brunei Darussalam BRU
  29. Bulgaria BUL
  30. Burkina Faso BUR
  31. Burundi BDI
  32. Cambodia CAM
  33. Cameroon CMR
  34. Canada CAN
  35. Cape Verde CPV
  36. Cayman Islands CAY
  37. Central African Republic CAF
  38. Chad CHA
  39. People's Republic of China CHN
  40. Chile CHI
  41. Colombia COL
  42. Comoros COM
  43. Congo CGO
  44. Cook Islands COK
  45. Costa Rica CRC
  46. Côte d'Ivoire CIV
  47. Croatia CRO
  48. Cuba CUB
  49. Cyprus CYP
  50. Czech Republic CZE
  51. Democratic Republic of the Congo COD
  52. Denmark DEN
  53. Djibouti DJI
  54. Dominica DMA
  55. Dominican Republic DOM
  56. Ecuador ECU
  57. Egypt EGY
  58. El Salvador ESA
  59. Equatorial Guinea GEQ
  60. Eritrea ERI
  61. Estonia EST
  62. Ethiopia ETH
  63. Fiji FIJ
  64. Finland FIN
  65. Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia MKD
  66. France FRA
  67. Gabon GAB
  68. Gambia GAM
  69. Georgia GEO
  70. Germany GER
  71. Great Britain GBR
  72. Ghana GHA
  73. Grenada GRN
  74. Guam GUM
  75. Guatemala GUA
  76. Guinea GUI
  77. Guinea-Bissau GBS
  78. Guyana GUY
  79. Haiti HAI
  80. Honduras HON
  81. Hong Kong, China HKG
  82. Hungary HUN
  83. Iceland ISL
  84. India IND
  85. Indonesia INA
  86. Islamic Republic of Iran IRI
  87. Iraq IRQ
  88. Ireland IRL
  89. Israel ISR
  90. Italy ITA
  91. Jamaica JAM
  92. Japan JPN
  93. Jordan JOR
  94. Kazakhstan KAZ
  95. Kenya KEN
  96. Kirghyzstan KGZ
  97. Korea Korea KOR Democratic People's Republic of Korea PRK
  98. Kuwait KUW
  99. Lao People's Democratic Republic LAO
  100. Latvia LAT
  101. Lebanon LIB
  102. Lesotho LES
  103. Liberia LBR
  104. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya LBA
  105. Liechtenstein LIE
  106. Lithuania LTU
  107. Luxembourg LUX
  108. Madagascar MAD
  109. Malawi MAW
  110. Malaysia MAS
  111. Maldives MDV
  112. Mali MLI
  113. Malta MLT
  114. Mauritania MTN
  115. Mauritius MRI
  116. Mexico MEX
  117. Federated States of Micronesia FSM
  118. Republic of Moldova MDA
  119. Monaco MON
  120. Mongolia MGL
  121. Morocco MAR
  122. Mozambique MOZ
  123. Myanmar MYA
  124. Namibia NAM
  125. Nauru NRU
  126. Nepal NEP
  127. Netherlands NED
  128. Netherlands Antilles AHO
  129. New Zealand NZL
  130. Nicaragua NCA
  131. Niger NIG
  132. Nigeria NGR
  133. Norway NOR
  134. Oman OMA
  135. Pakistan PAK
  136. Palau PLW
  137. Palestine PLE
  138. Panama PAN
  139. Papua New Guinea PNG
  140. Paraguay PAR
  141. Peru PER
  142. Philippines PHI
  143. Poland POL
  144. Portugal POR
  145. Puerto Rico PUR
  146. Qatar QAT
  147. Romania ROM
  148. Russian Federation RUS
  149. Rwanda RWA
  150. Saint Kitts and Nevis SKN
  151. Saint Lucia LCA
  152. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines VIN
  153. Samoa SAM
  154. San Marino SMR
  155. Sao Tome and Principe STP
  156. Saudi Arabia KSA
  157. Senegal SEN
  158. Seychelles SEY
  159. Sierra Leone SLE
  160. Singapore SIN
  161. Slovakia SVK
  162. Slovenia SLO
  163. Solomon Islands SOL
  164. Somalia SOM
  165. South Africa RSA
  166. Spain ESP
  167. Sri Lanka SRI
  168. Sudan SUD
  169. Suriname SUR
  170. Swaziland SWZ
  171. Sweden SWE
  172. Switzerland SUI
  173. Syrian Arab Republic SYR
  174. Chinese Taipei TPE
  175. Tajikistan TJK
  176. United Republic of Tanzania TAN
  177. Thailand THA
  178. Tonga TGA
  179. Togo TOG
  180. Turkey TUR
  181. Turkmenistan TKM
  182. Trinidad and Tobago TRI
  183. Tunisia TUN
  184. Uganda UGA
  185. Ukraine UKR
  186. United Arab Emirates UAE
  187. United States of America USA
  188. Uruguay URU
  189. Uzbekistan UZB
  190. Vanuatu VAN
  191. Venezuela VEN
  192. Vietnam VIE
  193. Virgin Islands ISV
  194. Yemen YEM
  195. Yugoslavia YUG
  196. Zambia ZAM
  197. Zimbabwe ZIM
  198. Individual Olympic Athletes; East Timor IOA
  199. Australia AUS

The Australian flag

[Australian flag.] by António Martins

As Australia was the host country of Sydney 2000, the Australian national flag could been seen at every Olympic event. At the Opening Ceremony during the Parade of Flags, the flag of the host country was the last to enter the stadium. And at the Closing Ceremony the Australian flag was hoisted to symbolize the host country that was passing on the Olympic flag to the next host of the Olympic Games, Athens.
{1}


The Aboriginal flag and the Torres Straight Islanders flag

Aboriginal flag

[Aboriginal flag.] by Christopher Vance

Torres Strait Islander flag

[Torres Strait Islander
flag.] by Ivan Sache

Australia does have more than one national flag. In recognition of this the Sydney 2000 organizing committee has flown the Aboriginal flag and the Torres Straight Islanders flag alongside the Australian flag over the Sydney Olympic Park, the Olympic Village, the Sydney Opera House Olympic precinct, and three other prominent locations.
{1}


The flag of the United Nations:

[Flag of the UNO.] by Željko Heimer, 5 June 1996, modified by Jan Oskar Engene, 11 April 1998 and António Martins, 10 October 1999

In ancient times an Olympic Truce was pledged for the duration of the Olympic Games. Since 1993 the UN have restored this tradition, and every two years, before the Winter or Summer Games are held, the General Assembly of the United Nations calls on all states and all international and national organizations to observe an Olympic Truce, starting one week before the Olympic Games are opened, and lasting until one week after the Olympic Games are closed.

To signify the Olympic Truce, and to recognize that both the United Nations and the Olympic Movement strive for peace and understanding among all nations and people, at the Olympic Games the UN flag is flown at each Olympic event.
{1}


Sources:

1 International Olympic Committee Website, July 2000
2 Olympic Charter - International Olympic Committee, 12 December 1999
3 Ivan Sache, 16 September 2000
4 Jonathan Dixon, 30 August 2001.