the First Flag being Stolen

The five interlocking rings of various colors that make up the Olympic flag have become one of the most recognised symbols in the entire world. It was created by Pierre de Coubertin, the man who founded the modern Olympics, and was formally adopted at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp. It didn't last long, though. The original flag vanished after the competition, so the Olympics committee had to make a new one for the games in Paris.

The first flag's whereabouts became a mystery, which persisted for almost eight decades. In 1997, at a U.S. Olympic Committee luncheon, a journalist brought up the unsolved mystery of the original flag. A former Olympian by the name of Hal Haig Prieste was motivated by this to contact the journalist and mention that he had the missing flag and had been keeping it in a bag for the previous 80 years.

Prieste, who was 100 years old at the time of the dinner, participated in the diving competition in the 1920 Games and won the bronze medal. A teammate dared him to climb the flagpole and take the flag after a night of boisterous celebrations, which he did. He then fled Belgium with the flag safely tucked inside his suitcase. He didn't appreciate the value of his memento until the banquet 80 years later, thus a ceremony was planned in 2000 to formally return the flag to the Olympic committee.