Gold medalist Yang Sun of China brandishes correct Chinese flag during the medal ceremony of Day 3 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. (Photo : Getty Images)
Officials from the 2016 Rio Olympics organizing committee expressed their regret at the slightly inaccurate Chinese flag displayed in some medal-awarding ceremonies in the event that incited disappointment from Chinese netizens.
According to CNN, Rio 2016 Olympic Games executive communications director Mario Andrada acknowledged the mistake on Monday during the press conference and said that they will have it rectified immediately.
"We do understand that there is a problem with the flag. It's very small. You have to be very familiar with the Chinese flag to understand that. However, we need to correct it," Andrada told the press.
Apparently, the Rio Olympics organizers have repeatedly used a wrong or slightly incorrect flag to represent the Chinese delegation. This caught the attention of several Chinese netizens as well as others who were able to witness the progress of the biggest sporting event in the world.
"Pretty sure that's not the #china flag @Channel7 ... #Olympics2016 #RioOlympics2016" Twitter user Meggie Palmer (@MeggiePalmer) posted on August 6 referring to the red-blue-white flag put beside China during a Medal Tally projection.
Aside from that, minute inaccuracies in two flags that are supposedly that of the Middle Kingdom were spotted while the country's symbol hangs beside the American flag.
According to the Chinese media outlet People's Daily, the flag used in several medal ceremonies in the Rio Olympics showcased the four smaller stars in the country's red flag in a parallel pattern which should have been rotated to look like they are pointing towards the bigger star.
"This problem was discovered during the weekend. Yesterday we managed to contact the company producing these flags and they are producing a bunch of flags correctly now, so the first flags should be delivered here shortly," Andrada told the media, adding that the flags made for the event "had been approved by the Chinese prior to production."
