Indian tricolour hues illuminate the Empire State Building

NEW YORK: One side of the Empire State Building, the tallest building in New York, was illuminated with the green, white and saffron hues of the Indian tricolours to celebrate the country's participation in the Beijing Olympics.

Sharing the honour with India were Britain, France and Portugal colours of whose flags appeared on the three other sides of the 1454-foot 102 storey building, yesterday, as the opening ceremony of the Beijing ceremony enthralled the world.

For two weeks, the building with its lighting will honour four countries each night. A total of 66 countries have been selected for the honour depending of the number of athletes they have sent to Beijing. This is the first time that the four sides will have different colours.

The biggest contingent is from China followed by the United States. Both countries had the colours of their flag displayed Thursday.