Symbol of France: Parisians Want Olympic Rings Off Eiffel Tower

The Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has announced the city’s intentions to maintain the large multicolored rings on the Eiffel Tower until at least 2028, coinciding with the upcoming Games in Los Angeles.

The Eiffel Tower, standing at 1,082 feet (330 meters), was constructed by the renowned engineer as a provisional edifice for the 1889 Paris Exposition. Initially, the tower was meant to exist for merely 20 years and is currently under the ownership of the city of Paris. In 1991, it was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Paris 2024 Games took place from July 26 to August 11. Hidalgo claimes that the International Olympic Committee has consented to the rings’ continued presence on the tower.

Despite this, the proposal has elicited significant public backlash, with the descendants of the monument’s designer, Gustave Eiffel, being among the most vocal opponents of the rings’ prolonged display.

The family association known as AGDE, comprising approximately 70 living descendants of Gustave Eiffel, issued a statement expressing their opposition to any modifications that would detract from the respect owed to their ancestor’s work.

They contended that the symbol is “vibrant, substantial in size, situated on the primary approach to the tower, and creates a significant imbalance” in the structure’s appearance, thereby “substantially altering the monument’s inherently pure forms.”

AGDE further asserted that maintaining the rings would contradict “the neutrality and significance that the Eiffel Tower has acquired over the years, as it has evolved into a symbol of Paris and, indeed, of France on a global scale.”

The family group claims that it appears unsuitable for the Eiffel Tower to be permanently associated with the emblem of an external organization, regardless of its esteemed reputation.

AGDE indicated that they have sought legal counsel regarding the obstruction of the plan and proposed that the rings remain in position solely until the conclusion of 2024, which signifies the end of the Olympic year.

According to the official website of the Eiffel Tower, it holds the title of the most visited monument in the world, drawing approximately seven million visitors annually.