The Olympic Flame is lighted in Olympia, the site of the Ancient Olympic Games, prior to the Games, in a ceremony that mimics ancient Greek customs and kicks off the Olympic torch relay. The Greek flag, along with the flags of the current and future host countries, is always flown during the closing ceremony. The Olympic Games (Ancient Greek: Olumpia Olympia, "the Olympics"; sometimes Olumpias Olympias, "the Olympiad") were a series of athletic tournaments between city-state delegates and one of ancient Greece's Panhellenic Games. The Olympic Games were part of the Panhellenic Events, a series of four independent games staged at two- or four-year intervals but with at least one set of games held each year. The Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian Games were not as significant or distinguished as the Olympic Games.