The controversial erroneous Chinese flag at the Rio Olympics. (Photo : Twitter)
After causing an uproar for displaying an incorrect Chinese flag, organizers of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics are now in a rush to fix the problem.
Olympic officials said that a company located south of Sao Paolo is now making replacement flags to be used for subsequent awarding and other ceremonies during the run of the Games, the Global Times reported.
Some of the new, corrected flags have already been delivered to the venues, with the Chinese fencing team being the first one to unfurl it after winning silver in one of its events.
The matter was first called into attention after keen-eyed Chinese netizens noticed an error on the flag being raised during the medal awarding ceremony for shooters Du Li and Yi Silong in the 15-meter air rifle event.
The design of the Chinese flag consists of a red field with a large yellow star at the upper left corner. Four smaller stars surround the larger one in a semi-circular arrangement and are oriented so that they are pointing towards it. However, in the faulty flag, the smaller stars were instead aligned parallel to each other.
Chinese sports fans expressed anger over the incident, while the team filed a protest to the Rio Olympic Committee. While it was initially believed that the erroneous flags were made by a Chinese company, committee spokesperson Mario Andrada later revealed that these were, in fact, made domestically in Brazil.
Andrada also issued an apology and said that they will fix the issue as soon as possible, Time reported. Chinese consulate-general to Brazil Song Yang welcomed the apology and said that the team is looking forward to seeing the proper flag flown again to inspire the athletes.
