An original drawing of the Olympic rings by the founder of the modern Games, Pierre de Coubertin, has fetched 185,000 euros at auction held in Southern France.
"The drawing was sold to a Brazilian collector for a price of 185,000 euros plus 27% costs, or 234,950 euros," said Alexandre Debussy, associate director of Cannes Encheres.
Created in 1912 by Coubertin the design had been given to one of his supporters in Switzerland, and stayed in the same family until it was bought by the collector who put it up for auction.
The estimated sale price of the 21cm x 27.5cm design, in graphite and opaque watercolor was between 80,000-100,000 euros, and the auction started at 50,000 euros.
The Olympics' motto is composed of five colored interlocking rings that represent the five continents of the world: the black ring refers to Africa, blue to Europe, green to Oceania, yellow to Asia, and red to the Americas, with a white background. The flag was lifted for the first time in 1920 during the Olympics held in Belgium. The international sports contest was cancelled in 1914 because of World War One. The design of the Olympics' flag aimed at sending a message saying everyone is welcomed in this contest regardless of their race.
