Or are the Olympic rings clearly in two rows?

[slev]

DH and I are arguing about the correct order of the Olympic rings. I reckon it's two rows, so you go left to right row 1, then left to right row 2. He claims there's too much of an overlap so you just do left to right and don't take height into account. Please tell me I'm right!

(He also claims they're on a Venn diagramme pattern but I know he's wrong on that so don't need to ask).

Very clearly two rows!

Thank you. I win!

3 on the top row
2 on the bottom row

Don't know how else you could see it...

2 rows.

It's the BBC's fault. Someone tweeted about having the cushions on the sofa in the right order. And then we argued about what the right order was.

But either way, I'm claiming this as a clear victory.

On further questioning, apparently the top rings aren't joined. Therefore in any order, you have to go by how they're joined and not by the rows.

I can see his point. He's still wrong.

Two rows but counted and colour order left to right as they're joined.

There are 2 rows but to me it reads left to right like how you would write a W shape.

They are in two rows.

But if I was asked to put them in colour order I'd definitely do it left to right because of the overlap

The rings are interlocking (or interlaced) by design rather than being in two rows, and were specifically designed that way by the co-founder of the modern games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. Therefore the colour order should be that of the interlocking rings: blue, yellow, black, green, and red.

Well, I look at it as two rows, but would track them up and down with the interlocks.

Why are they not a Venn Diagram?
There are five sets with some intersections and no universal set.

Agree with Fascinate. They are bunched together in a zig zag to look like two rows I imagine because it's more esthetically pleasing than a row of 5 interlocking circles.

And I think they look like a Venn diagram too.

It's not two rows to me. They are linked so in the order blue, yellow, black, green, red. If they were real rings, you could hold the blue and red rings and pull apart to show a single chain of links.

They are arranged in two rows.

But if I were listing the colours I would start from the left and go up and down.

Raspberry's plan of pulling the chain apart is a good one.

Does this help, Euphemia?

Yes to two rows, but yes to colour order being left to right taking both rows in. Thank you for giving DP and I a morning debate