Vexillology: The Olympics

Oh man! I love the Olympics! While the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics have had a ton of trouble thanks to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, they are set to go on this year after a 1-year delay. A lot of things are going to be different this year thanks to the virus, but I hope that the Olympics can help unify us and bring us together in this difficult time. After all, that's the whole point, right? While I'm still not convinced that holding the Olympics this year is necessarily a good idea, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to the games.

One of my favorite parts of the Olympics is seeing the various national teams competing. However, there are a few interesting flags that you'll see more or less only at the Olympic Games! 

The Olympic Flag

The five ring Olympic Flag was designed in 1914. It's symbolism includes five interlocked rings in five colors - one of which appears on every flag of the world. It's a symbol of unity, peace, and global interconnectedness.

Today, the flag flies over every Olympic Games, and athletes from disqualified or unrecognized countries sometimes compete under the Olympic banner alongside independent athletes. 

Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)

Due to its complicated history and difficult relationship with the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (more commonly known as Taiwan), has not been permitted to compete beneath its own flag since 1981. Pressure from China, as well as a general lack of international recognition, forces Taiwanese athletes to compete beneath the politically-neutral flag of "Chinese Taipei".

The flag of Chinese Taipei is, like the Olympic Flag, set on a white banner and features the Olympic rings. It features the emblem of the Republic of China and the Kuomintang (National Party), which also adorns its national flag. The symbols are set within a Japanese plum blossom, the national flower of Taiwan.

It is sad that Taiwan isn't allowed to fly its own flag, when even Hong Kong and Macau (very much parts of China) are allowed to compete independently. It is not even allowed to play its own national anthem, instead having to play a patriotic song called the "Flag Anthem".

United Team Flags

United Korea (The Korean Unification Flag)

In a surprisingly noble show of solidarity and unity, North and South Korea compete in the Olympics as one United Korea team! The team, generally just called "Korea", even shares its own unique anthem. I think this flag is one of the most impressive displays of unity in the world today, and really does go to show that both North and South Korea want peace and dream of unification.

The flag is on a white field, and depicts the entire Korean Peninsula (both countries as one) in United Nations blue (an international symbol of peace and cooperation).

United Team of Germany (Obsolete)

Korea isn't the only unified team in Olympic history! During the Cold War, East and West Germany often competed as a unified team under a United Germany banner. Since both Germanies shared the same flag colors, the Olympic team flag was a modified German flag with white Olympic rings in the center.

Australasia (Obsolete)

For a very short time in the earliest Olympic Games. In the 1908 and 1912 games, Australia and the Dominion of New Zealand (the predecessor to the modern country of New Zealand) send a united team to the Olympics. Following the First World War, when the Olympics resumed in 1920, both countries sent independent teams, and have done so ever since.

New Team Flags in Tokyo 2020

Russian Olympic Committee

Most recently, the Russian Olympic Team's disqualification due to its recent doping scandal has resulted in its suspension from the Olympics in 2020 and 2022. While the Russian flag itself has been banned from flying, the newly-formed Russian Olympic Committee, or ROC, is permitted to compete beneath its own banner. Like that of Chinese Taipei (another "ROC"), the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee features a stylized version of the Russian flag (in the shape of an Olympic flame) waving on a white field above the Olympic rings.

The Refugee Olympic Team

This is the newest flag to fly at the Olympic Games. It was due to fly in 2020, but will instead be making its official worldwide debut at the delayed 2021 games. The flag of the Refugee Olympic Team, which has decided to adopt its own flag, anthem, and identity rather than to compete under the Olympic Flag, is a distinct orange and black, reminiscent of a life jacket (representing safety and rescue).

There's even a brand-new anthem for the Refugee Nation, which you can listen to below: