With the Paris 2024 Olympic Games starting in two months, we shed light on the competition’s motto.
A currency loaded with symbols
It was in 1894 that the motto of the Olympic Games was invented. It was chosen by the Olympic Movement, on the initiative of founder Pierre de Coubertin. The latter had expressed his wish to find a slogan that expressed excellence in sport. Thus “Citius, Altius, Fortis” was adopted. This phrase was borrowed from a Dominican priest who taught sports near Paris. Friend of the French inventor of the Olympic Games, he considered that this motto was ideal for pushing the athlete to give the best of himself in competition.
Moreover, the Olympic maxim “The important thing in life is not the triumph but the fight; the main thing is not to have won but to have fought well” goes in the direction of the motto. But it is more recent because it dates from 1908, when the Bishop of Pennsylvania, Ethelbert Talbot, pronounced it at the London Olympics.
A recent change
On July 20, 2021, during a meeting in Tokyo, the International Olympic Committee made a significant decision regarding the motto. In order to emphasize the value of solidarity and the unifying power of sport, the word “together” completes the motto, which becomes “Faster, higher, stronger – together”. The objective of sport is to make the world a better place, in particular through the union of people.
In Latin, the change is also made, which gives: “Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communiter”. In English, the motto is used almost everywhere during the Olympics or events surrounding the competition. Thus we see marked: “Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together” on walls and monuments. The power of the Olympic Games is to bring people, communities and societies together on earth. We can go faster, higher and be stronger, but the main thing is to be together in a competition.