Flag Flies Over L.A. in Support of Sarajevo

The Olympic flag will fly today over Los Angeles and seven other North American cities as a symbol of solidarity with another Games host, strife-torn Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In a ceremony at 10 a.m. at the Coliseum, the five-ring Olympic flag will be raised as the torch is lit. Mayor Tom Bradley will repeat a message calling for world peace that he and Sarajevo’s former mayor, Ugljesa Uvelac, delivered in a simultaneous reading from Los Angeles and Sarajevo on Feb. 6, 1984.

Sarajevo’s Winter Games opened the next day, about six months before Los Angeles’ Summer Olympics.

Other North American cities that have scheduled ceremonies for the same time today are Atlanta; Calgary, Canada; Lake Placid, N.Y.; Mexico City; Montreal; Squaw Valley, Calif., and St. Louis.

The effort, which might be joined by other former Olympic host cities throughout the world, was coordinated by officials from Lillehammer, Norway, which will stage the 1994 Winter Games, in an attempt to raise awareness and money for Sarajevo. The former Yugoslavian city has been under siege from Serbian forces.

Operation USA, which is leading Los Angeles’ relief effort, will be represented at today’s ceremony.