The opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was unforgettable. Memorable moments followed one another, from an emotional performance by Céline Dion to the boats that carried athletes from the 206 participating countries.
Amid the excitement, spectators spotted a subtle error: the Olympic flag was hung upside down during the official raising, which occurs near the end of the four-hour ceremony.
The flag’s well-known design consists of five interlocking multi-colored rings.
Correctly displayed, the top row should show three rings (blue, black, and red, specifically), while the bottom row should show two rings, yellow and green.
However, the flag raised at the end of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics had the wrong side at the top: two rings were in the top row and three in the bottom, which is not correct.
On X, users reacted to the bug, calling it “embarrassing” and an “epic fail.”
“If you’re having a bad day at work, it could be worse. You could be the team that raised the Olympic flag upside down at the opening ceremony,” one user wrote.
“EPIC FAIL: hoisting the Olympic flag upside down at the opening of the greatest show on earth,” commented another user. “What a shameful mistake.”
Some interpreted the timing as intentional, suggesting the upside-down flag meant “the world is in danger.”
“The Olympic flag has been flown BACKWARDS = THE WORLD IS IN BREAKDOWN,” wrote one user.
“Flying the flag upside down is usually a sign of danger,” said another user. “Let’s hope the mistake at the opening ceremony is not a harbinger of the days to come.”
In the United States, the upside-down American flag originally served as an apolitical signal for sailors to indicate that their ship was in danger.
More recently, it has become a controversial symbol of political expression.
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