Organization code
OLYMPICS
Categoría
Organizaciones
Established
23 June 1894
Headquarters
Lausanne, Switzerland
Members
206 National Olympic Committees
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), founded in Paris on the initiative of Pierre de Coubertin, is the supreme governing body of the Olympic Movement. It organises the Summer and Winter Olympic Games and oversees the Olympic Charter and global sports development.
To place sport at the service of humanity and promote peace and mutual understanding through sport, guided by the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect.
1894
The Paris Congress adopted the Olympic Charter and founded the IOC
1896
The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens
1924
The first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France
2024
Paris hosted the Games for the first time in a century
The Olympic flag is a white field with five interlaced rings — blue, yellow, black, green and red — designed by Coubertin in 1913 and first raised at the 1920 Antwerp Games. The rings represent the unity of the five continents; the six colours were chosen because every national flag of the era contained at least one of them.
Adopted
Designed in 1913, first used in 1920
Usage note
Olympic properties are protected by the Nairobi Treaty and national Olympic laws; commercial use requires IOC or National Olympic Committee authorisation.
