The Paris Summer Olympics opening ceremony has already garnered much attention, from a freshly-decapitated Marie Antoinette—who was still singing—to an emotional performance by Celine Dion. Add in the rain pouring down on the City of Lights, and the event was by most accounts unconventional.
Yet, there was another aspect of the opening ceremony that caught the attention of viewers, with many heading to social media to point it out. When the Olympic flag—holding the iconic image of five multicolored rings overlapping one another—was raised, it was revealed to be hung upside down.
In its correct configuration, the Olympic flag should show three rings—blue, black, and red— on the top and two rings—yellow and green—on the bottom. As members of the French military hoisted the Olympic flag to conclude the opening ceremony, it dramatically unfurled from their arms to show the two rings on top instead.
Read More: The Olympics Opening Ceremony Was a Weird, Wonderful, Extremely French Love Letter to Paris
On X (formerly Twitter), onlookers reacted to the mistake, some seeing it as a simple error, while others argued that it was “embarrassing.”
Interestingly, an upside down flag was at one point an apolitical gesture by sailors to signal distress. In the United States, though, flying the American flag upside down has evolved into a form of protest for some on different sides of the political spectrum.
Read More: What It Was Like on the Seine During the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony
Though the rain and the flag mishap brought on some frustration, spirits were high on the Seine in Paris, as onlookers enjoyed their first truly festive opening ceremony since the Pyeongchang Winter Games in 2018, with the COVID-19 pandemic keeping fans away from ceremonies at the last two Olympic Games.
