France raises the Olympic flag "upside down"

A major mistake occurred at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in the French capital, Paris, on Friday, after guards raised the famous flag of the Games in reverse.

At the end of the opening ceremony, the guards raised the flag with its five Olympic rings on a pole in the Trocadero Square near the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, the flag was reversed, with the two lower rings of the symbol turned up. The usual shape of the flag is "three rings on top of two".

The reason for this error is not yet clear.

The opening ceremony, attended by a number of world leaders, included several hours of dancing and performances including Lady Gaga and Celine Dion and a parade of athletes in boats down the River Seine, all in heavy rain.

The 33rd Summer Olympic Games opened last Friday evening in the French capital, Paris, with a grand ceremony held on the Seine River.

The opening ceremony began at 8:30 pm Moscow and Mecca time, and lasted for three hours and 45 minutes.

French President Emmanuel Macron initially welcomed world leaders to Paris for the opening ceremony.

The opening ceremony took place just hours after a sabotage attack on the rail network caused travel chaos across France.

For the first time in the history of the Summer Olympics, instead of using the main athletics stadium for the opening ceremony, the organizers moved the event outside and specifically into the heart of the French capital, in line with their slogan "The Games are Wide Open."