For each and every Olympic games, a new logo is designed to brand the event. These logos are seen around the world on TV, in newspapers and in person by billions of people.
Tokyo, Japan 2021
The initial logo that was developed for Tokyo was for the year 2020 however despite the fact that the Olympics were postponed to 2021, they chose to keep the logo and title the same. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided that they would remain to call it Tokyo 2020. The chequered pattern in Japan is known as “ichimatsu moyo ” and is the traditional Japanese color of indigo blue to represent elegance and sophistication. The design includes three different sizes of rectangles to depict the diversity of countries, cultures, and ways of thinking at the Olympics following the message of “Unity in Diversity”.
NBC, who covers the majority of the games, has created its own version that highlights the new year. Their viewers will see the 202One graphic.
PyeongChang, South Korea 2018
In the 2018 logo, there are two main elements of the design that are based on Hangul, the Korean alphabet. The open rectangle and the star represent the letters P and C, constants of the city name. The first character also can be interpreted as a gathering place where Chion-jin-in, or heaven, earth, and human, are in harmony. The second character also represents snow and ice for winter sports.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2016
This Olympic logo shows the unity of Rio’s citizens. They are joined by the hands while dancing. The shape that they have created reflects the natural environment of Brazil as well as the colors. The yellow is for the sun, the blue for the sea and the green for the forests.
Sochi, Russia 2014
When Sochi released one of their logos as a URL, they were “the first digital brand in the Olympic Movement” as noted by the Organizing Committee. The website was the official homepage for the games and was a way to connect to the audience located around the world digitally.
This is also the first time that the logo has not had a defined drawn element replaced solely by text. While London 2012 and Mexico City 1986 both had mostly text in their logos, they also included drawn images. It was said that the ‘2014’ looks a bit like a reflection of the word ‘Sochi’ and that represents the contrast that Russia as a country has like the sea to the mountain slopes or the sand to the snow. When it was first released, many people were quite surprised by the simplicity of the design but like any Olympic logo, much thought goes into the design and there is a reason for each element.
London, Great Britain 2012
When the branding consulting agency Wolff Olins released the logo six years prior to the summer Olympics, there was -at best- a critical response. At first glance, the abstract art takes a minute to understand the simple meaning (the year), but can quickly be misinterpreted. A petition went around accumulating over 48,000 signatures from citizens to scrap it. Even so, the London Olympic committee stuck with the original, eccentric design.
Vancouver, Canada 2010
This might just be the smiliest pile of rocks you will ever see as a logo. Vancouver based this design on Inukshuk which is a kind of cairn. Cairn is a pile of stones symbolizing a memorial or landmark built by the Inuit people of Northern Canada. This logo was a tribute to the Arctic culture of Canada. Once again, this logo has come under fire for the Inukshuk because they are typically not built with a head, arms or legs and the design that they chose for the logo is actually considered more of an ‘imitation of man’.
Logo Redesign Help
If you need help rebranding or with logo redesign, contact us! Our team of professionals will bring your logo dreams and goals to fruition.
CEO | Brand Champion
Michael Doyle has been changing the face of Brand Marketing for over two decades. He built a tech-based advertising agency, DNA Advertising, into a multi-million dollar company. Michael sold the company as part of a national IPO in 2000. Michael founded Brand Iron in 2002 and has since lent his expertise to hundreds of other businesses in dozens of industries around the world.
