[2] The original Olympic motto is the hendiatris Citius, Altius, Fortius which is Latin for "Faster, Higher, Stronger".

[7] In 2021, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), approved the addition of the word "together", after an en dash, to the motto; it now reads "Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communiter," Latin for "Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together" (or, in French, "Plus vite, Plus haut, Plus fort – Ensemble").

[12] He appears to have intended the rings to represent the five inhabited continents: Africa, America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.

The blue and yellow of Sweden, the blue and white of Greece, the tricolour flags of France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Hungary, and the yellow and red of Spain are included, as are the innovative flags of Brazil and Australia, and those of ancient Japan and modern China.

[15] The 1914 Congress was suspended due to the outbreak of World War I, so the symbol and flag officially debuted at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium.

Carl Diem, president of the Organizing Committee of the 1936 Summer Olympics, wanted to hold a torchbearers' ceremony in the stadium at Delphi, the site of the famous oracle, where the Pythian Games were also held.

For this reason, he ordered the construction of a milestone with the Olympic rings carved in the sides, and that a torchbearer should carry the flame along with an escort of three others from there to Berlin.

The emblem selected to illustrate and represent the 1914 World Congress which was to place the final seal on the restoration of the Olympics began to appear on various preliminary documents: five rings linked at regular intervals, their various colors – blue, yellow, black, green and red – standing out against the white of the paper.

These five rings represent the five parts of the world now won over to Olympism, ready to accept its fruitful rivalries.

The blue and yellow of Sweden, the blue and white of Greece, the tricolor flags of France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Hungary, and the yellow and red of Spain are included, as are the innovative flags of Brazil and Australia, and those of ancient Japan and modern China.

The flag was returned to the IOC by Prieste, by then 103 years old, in a special ceremony held at the 2000 Games in Sydney.

[29] The original Antwerp Flag was placed on display at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, with a plaque thanking him for donating it.

Currently, the actual Oslo flag is kept preserved in a special box, and in its last appearances (Torino 2006 to Sochi 2014), replicas had been used instead.

The Olympic torch is carried by athletes, leaders, celebrities, and ordinary people alike, and at times in unusual conditions, such as being electronically transmitted via satellite for Montreal 1976, submerged underwater without being extinguished for Sydney 2000, or in space and at the North Pole for Sochi 2014.

For medals awarded at Summer Games, the obverse side has an image of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, holding a palm in her left hand and a winner's crown in her right, and the Colosseum in Rome in the background.

In this design, the goddess Nike flies into the grounds of the Panathenaic Stadium, symbolizing the renewal of the Games.

[41] For each Summer Olympics from 2004 onwards, the reverse side, as well as the labels for each Olympiad, were changed to reflect scenic images or locations from the host city.

It was composed by Spyridon Samaras with words from a poem of the Greek poet and writer Kostis Palamas.

The anthem was performed for the first time for the ceremony of opening of the 1896 Athens Olympic Games but was not declared the official hymn by the IOC until 1958.

Other notable Olympic anthems and fanfares include: Several other composers have contributed Olympic music, including Henry Mancini, Francis Lai, Marvin Hamlisch, Philip Glass, David Foster, Mikis Theodorakis, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Vangelis, Basil Poledouris, Michael Kamen, and Mark Watters.

The kotinos (Greek: κότινος),[47] is an olive branch, originally of wild olive-tree, intertwined to form a circle or a horse-shoe, introduced by Heracles.

The kotinos tradition was renewed specifically for the Athens 2004 Games, although in this case it was bestowed together with the gold medal.

Misha was used extensively during the opening and closing ceremonies, had a TV animated cartoon, and appeared on several merchandise products.

Nowadays, most of the merchandise aimed at young people focuses on the mascots, rather than the Olympic flag or organization logos.

], both because of their date of creation and because five circles arranged in a pattern do not reach the threshold of originality required to be copyrighted.

[55] In 1938, the Norwegian brewery Frydenlund patented a label for its root beer which featured the five Olympic rings.

Today, the successor company Ringnes AS owns the rights to use the patented five rings on its root beer.

The Nairobi Treaty provides for a framework of international intellectual property protection of the licensure of all Olympic symbols.

[60][61] Bob Barney co-authored the book Selling the Five Rings (2002), with Stephen Wenn and Scott Martyn, which discussed the history of corporate sponsorships and television rights for the Olympic Games.

In contrast, the medal podium ceremonies, which began in 1932, had not become commercialized since no advertising is allowed inside Olympic venues.