Eiffel’s descendants say Non to keeping Olympic rings on Eiffel Tower

Author of the article:

Washington Post

Juliette Fekkar, Ellen Francis, The Washington Post

Published Sep 13, 2024  •  6 minute read

The Olympic cauldron at sunset in Paris on Aug. 9. MUST CREDIT: Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post Photo by Marvin Joseph /The Washington Post

PARIS – One of the selling points of the Paris Olympics was that it wouldn’t involve lots of expensive new construction. The plan to stage competitions in temporary spaces won praise – and turned the city’s landmarks into a stunning stage.

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But now, after a successful Summer Games, some Paris officials want a memento.

Mayor Anne Hidalgo is pushing to keep the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower. She also wants to keep the hot air balloon that lifted the Olympic cauldron into the sky during the Games.

“We have built and then lived and shared a historic moment,” she told local news outlet Ouest-France. “I want this festive spirit to remain!”

The proposals, though, have elicited logistical, legal and cultural objections – including from the descendants of the tower’s creator, French engineer Gustave Eiffel. The problem is not about keeping Olympic emblems, critics say, but about changing a signature of Parisian architectural history.

“You can’t disfigure the Eiffel Tower by giving it a sense that isn’t its own,” said Olivier Berthelot-Eiffel, Eiffel’s great-great-great-grandson and president of the Association of the Descendants of Gustave Eiffel.

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He told The Washington Post that it was the first time the family had voiced this sort of public opposition to plans for the landmark.

“The Eiffel Tower, a historical symbol of Paris and France, should not be permanently associated with an external organization, no matter how prestigious it may be,” the descendant association said in a statement. “On the contrary, the facade of the Eiffel Tower should continue to be used for the temporary promotion of worthy causes.”

Originally built for the 1889 World’s Fair, the Eiffel Tower conveys “Paris” above all else. But it is also routinely illuminated in support of various campaigns – green for the Paris climate agreement, pink for breast cancer awareness, blue and yellow for Ukraine, and so on. The hashtag #lovewins was displayed in lights after an attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando. The message “Merci, Johnny” went up after singer Johnny Hallyday’s death.

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The tower has also been used at times for commercial messaging. From 1925 to 1934, French car company Citroën displayed its name in massive letters going all the way up to the top. The slogan “Fashion loves Paris” has helped promote Paris Fashion Week.

It was an obvious choice to use the tower as a focal point during the Olympics. The monument served as a backdrop for beach volleyball and a pedestal for Celine Dion’s moving comeback at the Opening Ceremonies. The Olympic logo, installed between the first and second floors, regularly featured in television broadcasts.

For Hidalgo, it’s a “very beautiful idea to combine the Eiffel Tower, a monument designed to be ephemeral for a universal exhibition, with the Games, an ephemeral moment which will also have marked Paris and our country.”

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“I want the two to remain married,” she said late last month.

Other Olympic host cities have mounted the logo on landmarks – on London’s Tower Bridge in 2012 and the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 2000, for instance. Both were taken down afterward.

The International Olympic Committee strictly controls depictions of the rings.

Hidalgo, though, maintains she has the IOC’s backing, and because the city owns the Eiffel Tower, she said the plan should be able to move forward. She said the intention is to keep the rings at least until the next Summer Games, Los Angeles 2028, and then, “we’ll see.”

The IOC said in an email that it “warmly welcomes” the intention to “make the legacy of the sensational Olympic Games Paris 2024 accessible to as many people as possible,” including by keeping the rings on the Eiffel Tower. It said it was “supporting this initiative by conducting a feasibility study,” with results expected in the coming months.

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The 30-ton version of the logo there now would be too heavy to safely withstand winter winds, and Hidalgo said she envisions replacing it with a lighter reproduction.

There has been more public surprise than outrage at her plan, but a petition against it gathered more than 42,000 signatures, and political opponents have accused the Socialist mayor of trying to score political points.

“Respect the Eiffel Tower, defend it against the whims and caprices of the mayor of Paris, avoid burning Parisians’ money on useless PR,” posted right-wing Paris city councilor David Alphand, an ally of Hidalgo’s rival in the next mayoral election in 2026.

Hidalgo, who has been mayor for a decade, put her reputation on the line as one of the biggest champions of hosting the Olympics in Paris – and has claimed victory over the skeptics after the Games were widely considered a success. She and city officials largely dismissed criticism of the Eiffel Tower plan as typical complaints from Parisians, who bashed plans for the Olympics only to be awed by the event.

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The objections from Eiffel’s relatives may be harder to wave away.

“We were very happy and proud to have the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower during the Games. It was a very nice image. But now the Games are over,” said Savin Yeatman-Eiffel, another great-great-great-grandson and the vice president of the association.

“The Eiffel Tower is not a billboard,” he said. “It’s a beautiful structure and a symbol in its own right, and it should stay that way.”

The Eiffel family members said they hoped the city would be open to talking. They suggest keeping the rings in the Champ de Mars garden under the Eiffel Tower or near the Paris City Hall instead. The descendants have “a right and a duty to make sure the monument is protected and kept in its integrity,” Yeatman-Eiffel said.

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The city has heard the reservations of Eiffel’s descendants, said Pierre Rabadan, the Paris deputy mayor for the Olympics. He said the rings would preserve the connection with “the event which has left a lasting mark on Paris.”

“We’re not changing the structure of the Eiffel Tower. We’re just affixing a symbol,” he added. “It’s not brand promotion. It’s a powerful symbol.”

The plan may still face legal complications, said Pierre Noual, a lawyer specializing in cultural history. He noted that the rings, an IOC trademark, are considered advertising, which is generally prohibited on historical monuments. Exceptions made for the Olympics were only temporary, he said.

Legislation could allow Eiffel’s heirs to oppose changes that undermine the structure’s integrity, he added.

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The proposal to keep the Olympic cauldron at the Tuileries Gardens has generated less public debate – but may present feasibility issues.

The cauldron doesn’t involve a real flame. Instead, an illusion is created by clouds of mist lit by LED rays and powered by renewable electricity.

The display proved hugely popular. Spectators quickly snatched up the more than 10,000 free tickets offered each day. And crowds gasped each evening at sunset when the 100-foot balloon elevated what appeared to be a ring of fire.

But the display wasn’t designed as a permanent feature and would be expensive to maintain. Ultimately it would be up to the state, which runs the gardens.

At the Palais Royal gardens this week, there were no apparent Olympic haters. Several Parisians who spoke with The Post said that they enjoyed the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower, but that it was time to bring them down.

Student Camille Salabert said the logo gave the monument “something extra” during the Games, but that “it’s time for it to go back to how it was – and maybe show the rings elsewhere.”

Paris resident Jean Paul Duvernois was open to keeping the rings up. “It doesn’t bother me at all, quite the opposite. I want them to stay until the next Olympics in Los Angeles.” Still, he added, “not beyond that.”

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