Last modified: 2005-07-09 by juan manuel gabino villascán
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by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán
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}
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}
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}
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}
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). Images: Athens 2004 Olympic Games - Official web-site, excepting Unified Korea, Bahrain, Comoros, and Georgia. Flags of BRN, CAY, COM GEO, KOR & PER: Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán. Country (English) ABR. FLAG ------------------------------------------------------------------
- Greece GRE
- Albania ALB
- Algeria ALG
- American Samoa ASA
- Andorra AND
- Angola ANG
- Antigua and Barbuda ANT
- Argentina ARG
- Armenia ARM
- Aruba ARU
- Austria AUT
- Azerbaijan AZE
- Bahamas BAH
- Bahrain BRN
- Bangladesh BAN
- Barbados BAR
- Belarus BLR
- Belgium BEL
- Belize BIZ
- Benin BEN
- Bermuda BER
- Bhutan BHU
- Bolivia BOL
- Bosnia and Hercegovina BIH
- Botswana BOT
- Brazil BRA
- British Virgin Islands IVB
- Brunei Darussalam BRU
- Bulgaria BUL
- Burkina Faso BUR
- Burundi BDI
- Cambodia CAM
- Cameroon CMR
- Canada CAN
- Cape Verde CPV
- Cayman Islands CAY
- Central African Republic CAF
- Chad CHA
- People's Republic of China CHN
- Chile CHI
- Colombia COL
- Comoros COM
- Congo CGO
- Cook Islands COK
- Costa Rica CRC
- Côte d'Ivoire CIV
- Croatia CRO
- Cuba CUB
- Cyprus CYP
- Czech Republic CZE
- Democratic Republic of the Congo COD
- Denmark DEN
- Djibouti DJI
- Dominica DMA
- Dominican Republic DOM
- Ecuador ECU
- Egypt EGY
- El Salvador ESA
- Equatorial Guinea GEQ
- Eritrea ERI
- Estonia EST
- Ethiopia ETH
- Fiji FIJ
- Finland FIN
- Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia MKD
- France FRA
- Gabon GAB
- Gambia GAM
- Georgia GEO
- Germany GER
- Great Britain GBR
- Ghana GHA
- Grenada GRN
- Guam GUM
- Guatemala GUA
- Guinea GUI
- Guinea-Bissau GBS
- Guyana GUY
- Haiti HAI
- Honduras HON
- Hong Kong, China HKG
- Hungary HUN
- Iceland ISL
- India IND
- Indonesia INA
- Islamic Republic of Iran IRI
- Iraq IRQ
- Ireland IRL
- Israel ISR
- Italy ITA
- Jamaica JAM
- Japan JPN
- Jordan JOR
- Kazakhstan KAZ
- Kenya KEN
- Kirghyzstan KGZ
- Korea Korea KOR Democratic People's Republic of Korea PRK
- Kuwait KUW
- Lao People's Democratic Republic LAO
- Latvia LAT
- Lebanon LIB
- Lesotho LES
- Liberia LBR
- Libyan Arab Jamahiriya LBA
- Liechtenstein LIE
- Lithuania LTU
- Luxembourg LUX
- Madagascar MAD
- Malawi MAW
- Malaysia MAS
- Maldives MDV
- Mali MLI
- Malta MLT
- Mauritania MTN
- Mauritius MRI
- Mexico MEX
- Federated States of Micronesia FSM
- Republic of Moldova MDA
- Monaco MON
- Mongolia MGL
- Morocco MAR
- Mozambique MOZ
- Myanmar MYA
- Namibia NAM
- Nauru NRU
- Nepal NEP
- Netherlands NED
- Netherlands Antilles AHO
- New Zealand NZL
- Nicaragua NCA
- Niger NIG
- Nigeria NGR
- Norway NOR
- Oman OMA
- Pakistan PAK
- Palau PLW
- Palestine PLE
- Panama PAN
- Papua New Guinea PNG
- Paraguay PAR
- Peru PER
- Philippines PHI
- Poland POL
- Portugal POR
- Puerto Rico PUR
- Qatar QAT
- Romania ROM
- Russian Federation RUS
- Rwanda RWA
- Saint Kitts and Nevis SKN
- Saint Lucia LCA
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines VIN
- Samoa SAM
- San Marino SMR
- Sao Tome and Principe STP
- Saudi Arabia KSA
- Senegal SEN
- Seychelles SEY
- Sierra Leone SLE
- Singapore SIN
- Slovakia SVK
- Slovenia SLO
- Solomon Islands SOL
- Somalia SOM
- South Africa RSA
- Spain ESP
- Sri Lanka SRI
- Sudan SUD
- Suriname SUR
- Swaziland SWZ
- Sweden SWE
- Switzerland SUI
- Syrian Arab Republic SYR
- Chinese Taipei TPE
- Tajikistan TJK
- United Republic of Tanzania TAN
- Thailand THA
- Tonga TGA
- Togo TOG
- Turkey TUR
- Turkmenistan TKM
- Trinidad and Tobago TRI
- Tunisia TUN
- Uganda UGA
- Ukraine UKR
- United Arab Emirates UAE
- United States of America USA
- Uruguay URU
- Uzbekistan UZB
- Vanuatu VAN
- Venezuela VEN
- Vietnam VIE
- Virgin Islands ISV
- Yemen YEM
- Yugoslavia YUG
- Zambia ZAM
- Zimbabwe ZIM
- Individual Olympic Athletes; East Timor IOA
- Australia AUS
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}
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}
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}
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.