According to Coubertin, the colors of the rings together with the flag’s white background included the colors composing every competing nation's flag at the time. In 1912, he stated the following: “The six colors, including the flag's white background, combined in this way reproduce the colors of every country without exception. The blue and yellow of Sweden, the blue and white of Greece, the tricolor flags of France, England, the United States, Germany, Belgium, Italy and Hungary, and the yellow and red of Spain are included, as are the innovative flags of Brazil and Australia, and those of ancient Japan and modern China. This, truly, is an international emblem.”