Damien Hirst biggest spin painting ever forms backdrop to Olympics closing ceremony

The jury may be out on whether last night's closing ceremony matched the dizzy heights of the opening one and the games themselves but we couldn't keep our eyes off the giant union flag dominating the floor of the Olympic stadium.

After the armed services raised the flag, printed grey clouds on the stadium floor were pulled back to reveal an explosion of red, white, and blue created by Damien Hirst in what was at  5,600 square metres the largest even spin painting created. It was the latest successful reinterpretation of a flag that's proved such a fertile inspiration ground for designers since London won the competition to stage the games back in 2005. More gold for Hirst, we think.