--- description: Organizers for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro apologized to China after using incorrect Chinese flags during official ceremonies title: Olympic Officials Apologize to China for Using the Wrong Flag image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94d5653a56e444d8/6988a1bcfb4eace00388eaf7/china-flag.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [olympics](/tag/olympics/) ## olympics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Olympic Officials Apologize to China for Using the Wrong Flag by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Aug 9, 2016 7:13 PM CUT  The American flag flies above the Chinese flags after Virginia Thrasher took the gold medal in the 10m air rifle competition at Olympic Shooting Centre in Rio de Janeiro, on Aug 6, 2016. The American flag flies above the Chinese flags after Virginia Thrasher took the gold medal in the 10m air rifle competition at Olympic Shooting Centre in Rio de Janeiro, on Aug 6, 2016.Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports/Reuters by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Aug 9, 2016 7:13 PM CUT Organizers for the [2016 Olympics](http://time.com/money/4445082/2016-rio-olympics-ticket-sales-rafaela-silva/ "undefined") in Rio de Janeiro apologized to [China](http://time.com/4442987/china-daily-mach-horton-australia-sun-yang-drug-cheat/ "undefined") after using incorrect Chinese flags during official ceremonies. Chinese flags used during the [opening ceremony](http://time.com/4441866/rio-2016-olympics-opening-ceremony-nbc/ "undefined") and two medal ceremonies at the Olympics featured an arc of four small stars laid upright, all at the same angle, bordering one big star. The actual Chinese national flag looks similar, but the smaller stars are angled so they point back toward the big star. “We do understand that there is a problem with the flag,” said Rio 2016 Olympic Games executive communications director Mario Andrada on Monday, [according to CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/08/americas/rio-2016-china-wrong-flag-trnd/index.html?utm%5Fsource=feedburner&utm%5Fmedium=feed&utm%5Fcampaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn%5Flatest+%28RSS%3A+CNN+-+Most+Recent%29 "undefined"). “It’s very small. You have to be very familiar with the Chinese flag to understand that. However, we need to correct it.” The mistake drew attention Saturday during the games’ [first medal ceremony](http://time.com/4442001/rio-2016-olympics-virginia-thrasher/ "undefined"), and became clear during another ceremony the next day, according to the [Wall Street _Journal_](http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2016/08/08/flag-furor-china-sees-red-over-starry-slip-up-in-rio/?mod=e2tw "undefined"). Viewers complained on social media, and Chinese officials protested the mistake, prompting the Rio Olympic Committee to apologize and order the contractor in charge of the flags to resolve the issue. According to the _Journal_, the Rio Olympic Committee said flags used at the games had been approved by each country’s national Olympic committee. Prior to the star-related upset, Chinese people were angered during Friday’s opening ceremony when Australian broadcaster Seven Network displayed the national flag of Chile instead of China’s when discussing how the country would place in the games. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4445373/rio-2016-olympics-china-wrong-flags/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4445373/rio-2016-olympics-china-wrong-flags/"},"headline":"Olympic Officials Apologize to China for Using the Wrong Flag","datePublished":"2016-08-09T19:13:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:52:06.509Z","description":"The stars did not align for China","url":"https://time.com/4445373/rio-2016-olympics-china-wrong-flags/","keywords":["olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94d5653a56e444d8/6988a1bcfb4eace00388eaf7/china-flag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94d5653a56e444d8/6988a1bcfb4eace00388eaf7/china-flag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Olympics: Shooting-Women's 10m Air Rifle-Final","caption":"Olympics: Shooting-Women's 10m Air Rifle-Final","creditText":"Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports/Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/olympics/","name":"olympics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4445373/rio-2016-olympics-china-wrong-flags/","name":"Olympic Officials Apologize to China for Using the Wrong Flag"}}]}] ```