WATCH: Olympic flag raised upside down at opening ceremony

In an embarrassing moment, the Olympic flag was raised upside down during the rain-soaked opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Footage clearly shows the five colored rings of the iconic emblem in the wrong positions as the flag was hoisted incorrectly. 

The flag was carried into Trocadero by a cloaked rider who had earlier galloped down the Seine on a metal horse draped in a cape emblazoned with the Olympic rings, The Independent reported. The rider then concluded her ride at the closing point of the ceremony before handing over the flag to be hoisted.

The organizers of the opening ceremony were heavily criticized by netizens over the blunder.

It is pertinent to mention that Lady Gaga, Celine Dion, and French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura joined dancers, an opera diva, and even a heavy metal band in an opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics that sought to proudly showcase French culture with a modern twist.

The first-ever opening ceremony held outside a stadium — on the River Seine — had to battle driving rain that cast a pallid gloom over the City of Light.

The fast-moving and multi-location ceremony, masterminded by acclaimed French theatre director Thomas Jolly, aimed to impress the global TV audience as much as those who braved the weather and intense security to watch live.

"It is now. The world is watching us. Let's open the Games in style!" French President Emmanuel Macron, who watched the ceremony in a VIP stand with other leaders, wrote on X.

In a nod to her passion for French culture, US pop star Lady Gaga appeared from behind a fan of pom-poms held by her dancing troupe to sing "Mon truc en plumes" ("My Thing With Feathers"), an iconic French music hall hit by the legendary Zizi Jeanmaire.

"It is my supreme honor to sing for you and cheer you on," Gaga wrote on her social media channels after the performance, saying she always "felt a very special connection with French people and singing French music."

Franco-Malian R&B superstar Aya Nakamura, the most listened-to French-speaking singer in the world, performed a medley of her hits "Pookie" and "Djadja" along with a classic by Charles Aznavour, "For me Formidable," one hundred years since his birth.

Rumors of her performance had sparked a backlash from the extreme right in France and a torrent of racist abuse on social media. But in a striking symbol, she was accompanied in her performance by musicians from France's Republican Guard.

Canadian singer Celine Dion, who had been battling a rare illness, made a spectacular comeback by singing from the Eiffel Tower at the climax of the ceremony with a rousing version of "Hymn to Love" by Edith Piaf.

'Whole world united'
According to Jolly, the 12 different phases of the ceremony told the story of a country rich in its "diversity," "inclusive," "not one France but several Frances," and celebrated "the whole world united."

He was backed by a writing team including famed novelist Leila Slimani and screenwriter Fanny Herrero, who penned the smash-hit casting agency comedy "Dix pour cent" ("Call My Agent").

In another highlight, the star "etoile" dancer of the Paris Opera, Guillaume Diop, performed on a Paris rooftop.

For many French spectators, the highlight was the surprise appearance of the heavy metal group Gojira, who burst out onto platforms constructed on the Conciergerie, a key building in the French Revolution, where deposed queen Marie-Antoinette was held.

With a mannequin of a headless Marie Antoinette after her guillotine execution for good measure, they belted out the revolutionary chant "Ah! Ça ira."

In an unlikely collaboration, they were joined by French-Swiss mezzo-soprano Marina Viotti, who makes no secret of her taste for metal as well as classical.

Jakub Józef Orliński, a Polish countertenor who is also a break-dancer, interpreted an aria from the opera "Les Indes Galantes" by Jean-Philippe Rameau, combining both of his talents.

The ceremony, which lasted just over four hours, began with a clip of French actor Djamel Debbouze carrying the Olympic torch into the national stadium, the Stade de France, only to realize he should have gone to the river.

Helped by French football great Zinedine Zidane, he then takes the torch on an underground odyssey through Paris and hands it to a group of children who are guided by a mysterious masked individual who eventually passes on the flame for the final relay to the cauldron.

— Additional input from AFP