Dale commented: ------------------------------ << Please bear in mind that there is no requirement that a bike/rider win a World Championship for the? rainbow stripes to placed on a BIKE. It's a tradition, but not a rule, unless the UCI has changed things in recent? years.>>
Absolutely true. It's interestingly that the Olympic rings are trademarked but not the World's Rainbow Stripes. It is a strong convention though. ------------------------------
Dale, any idea how long the Olympic rings have been trademarked?
Reason I'm interested is that it appears that in the 1960s Colnago may have used the Olympic rings on some bikes that were intended for use at the Olympics. I have a photograph of a 1960s Colnago track bike with a headtube logo/badge that includes the Olympic rings as well as "Rome 1960" (also with "Colnago", "Cambiago" and the colours of the Italian flag.
I recently met with the second owner of my 1968ish Colnago (http://picasaweb.google.com/MarkABattley/1968Colnago) who bought the bike from Jim Brittain in 1972. Bruce told me that the bike was originally intended for the French team for the 1968 Mexico Olympics, and had a headbadge/decal that consisted of the Olympic rings, with Mexico above and 1968 below. Bruce is trying to find his photographs of the bike.
Did other builders use the Olympic rings on their bikes?
Best regards,
Mark Battley
Auckland, New Zealand, Down Under