New Chinese national flags are being rushed to Rio after incorrect versions were hoisted at medal ceremonies at the Rio Olymipics, sparking complaints from the Chinese authorities and the country's netizens.
Workers at a company based about 75 kilometers outside Sao Paulo have been toiling for 30 hours straight, rustling up Chinese national flags with the correct design the Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday.
The replacement flags have been loaded onto trucks and will be delivered to every Olympic venue in Rio de Janeiro by Thursday.
"We are looking forward to seeing the Five-Starred Red Flag raised in Olympic venues and we hope Chinese athletes will obtain good results constantly," said Song Yang, Chinese consulate-general to Brazil, Xinhua reported.
Chinese netizens were quick to point out that incorrect Chinese flags were being raised at Olympic award ceremonies over the weekend: The four smaller stars on the flags were parallel to each other, instead of pointing toward the center of the larger star.
The Chinese team protested to the Rio Olympic Committee during an award ceremony on Saturday, followed by Chinese Ambassador to Brazil Li Jinzhang who immediately urged Song to lodge solemn representations to the Brazil side.
Rio Games organizers "deeply apologized" for raising the "flawed" flags, the consulate said in a post on its official Sina Weibo account on Monday.
Several media reports previously claimed that the flawed flags were made by the Zhejiang-based Jinyu Home Textile Industrial Company. However, the head of the company, surnamed Jin, confirmed with the Global Times on Sunday that it has only made souvenir products for the games, rather than national flags.
