Beijing has advised spectators going to next month's Olympics to leave their banners at home, even if they do not contravene rules forbidding the airing of political or religious views at venues.

Beijing authorities have long been concerned that its citizens will take some of the gloss off the Aug. 8-24 Games through bad manners and yesterday released its "Spectators House Rules" along with a "Good Habit for a Good Games" campaign.

The rules, which Beijing organisers said were "virtually the same as for the Athens and Sydney Olympics", ban banners and flags larger than two metres by one metre although officials said they would prefer that even smaller signs were not displayed.

"We advise that you do not bring banners of any kind to the Games because we must create a fair play environment for the athletes from all countries," Huang Keying, deputy director of spectator services division at the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), told a news conference.

"The kind of banner with "Go China!" on it would be unfair for athletes from other countries."

The Olympic charter bans "any kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas".