Sunday’s Closing Ceremony marked the end of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and started the countdown for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The French capital had a chance to share what’s to come in three years with quite the spectacle: a massive Paris 2024 flag flying on the Eiffel Tower.
Well, a CGI flag.
Paris organizers originally planned to set a record by hanging the world’s largest flag off the city’s most famous attraction. Instead, viewers were given a rendering of the vision. So what happened?
Here is the info you need to know about Paris’ enormous flag:
Was the Olympic flag on the Eiffel Tower real?
It was supposed to be. A trial flag was flown from the iconic tower in June in what appeared to be a test for the Olympic handover.
“We have this luck to have ‘the most beautiful flag bearer in the world’ with the Eiffel Tower,” Paris 2024 chief Tony Estanguet said at a press conference on Friday. “So our challenge is to be able to raise this flag, and fly this flag in Paris on the Eiffel Tower.”
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Mother Nature ultimately emerged victorious in the challenge, as bad weather dashed plans of actually hanging the flag off the tower.
"Sadly, the weather conditions today mean that we will not be able to proceed with our plan to raise the flag on the Eiffel Tower safely," a statement Paris 2024 said.
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How big is the Paris Olympic flag?
At 90m long and 60m wide (5400 square meters), the flag of the Paris 2024 Games is almost the size of a soccer field.
The Guinness World Record for largest flag flown is 2,448.56 meters and was achieved by the Trident Support Flagpoles and Sharjah Investment and Development Authority in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, on Nov. 2, 2017.
What is the Paris 2024 Games flag made out of?
The flag comes from two cutting-edge sectors -- offshore sailing and aerospace -- which gave rise to an ultra resistant, ultra lightweight and recyclable spinnaker sailcloth.
The flag’s journey will not end on the Eiffel Tower, though. The fabric will be reused as part of an exclusive clothing collection in a collaboration between Paris 2024 and one of its partners. After wowing the world on one of Paris’ marquee landmarks, the flag will dress fans and supporters.
When will the 2024 Paris Olympics flag fly?
The flag was originally supposed to be converted into clothing after Sunday’s ceremony. Since it didn’t go up due to bad weather, it may not get a chance to fly on the Eiffel Tower at all.
If organizers are still intent on performing the display, the Opening Ceremony for the 2024 Olympics is 1,083 days away.
