Today, I was surfing the internet and I came across some of the Olympic logos in the past, so for this next blog I’ve decided to take a look at the Olympic logos used in the last 88 years and how they have transformed according to the host city and any other aspects that might have influenced a particular design.
1924 – Paris, France
The logo for the 1924 Olympics in Paris was basically the first logo. The ‘logos’ for the previous games were actually posters depicting a scene rather than one general logo under which everything is presented. This logo, is perhaps the plainest Olympic logo I have ever seen. The Olympic colours are not included, the ship has virtually nothing to do with either the Olympics or Paris (except perhaps the water sports).
1928 – Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Netherlands decided to go back to the poster concept, obviously deciding that the logo hadn’t worked for the French 4 years earlier. This poster depicts an athlete crossing a finish line drawn to look like the Dutch flag and instead of a baton the athlete is holding a tulip which is the national flower of Holland.
1932 – Los Angeles, USA
The Americans being... well, Americans and always wanting to do things in their own way as much as possible, decided to go back to the logo concept, and I have to say, they got it really right. The five Olympic rings are set in front of an American flag in the shape of a coat of arms. Going through the rings is an olive branch with a dove holding it in its beak – this is used to represent the hope for peace between nations during the games (and after). Here, we see the introduction of a motto – Citius, Altius, Forius – it is represented as a banner going around the rings so that one of each word is presented on either side of the Olympic ring logo as well as under it – the motto is Latin for ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger’
1936 – Berlin, Germany
The Germans went with just an outline logo in 1936, it included a bell with a German Eagle holding up the Olympic rings. On the rim of the bell stands the motto “Ich rufe die Jugend der Welt” which translates to ‘I call the youth of the world.’
(Although this was the official logo of the games in 1936 it was also the design of an actual bell which was made to be used during the games – the bell itself is a replica of the one we see in the logo above however it has a relief of the Brandenburg gate on the opposite side).
1940 – Tokyo, Japan
The 1940 Olympic Games were cancelled due to World War II; however the logo had already been released. Again it was released in poster format. The poster was simple enough, a white background with faded blue stripes at the top and bottom. Large plain black sans serif font as was the style in the 1940s in the middle the Olympic rings with a washed out ink, print (Japanese style) of a volcano atop the rings.
1944 and 1948 – London, United Kingdom
The 1944 games were again cancelled due to WWII, they were scheduled to take part in London however due to the ongoing war they were cancelled.
The 1948 games were not cancelled and they were held in London. Being the first games after the War everyone was anxious. They were dubbed the Austerity games because of the economic climate after the war. Germany and Japan were not invited to join in the games and while the USSR (Russia) was invited, they decided it would be better not to send any athletes. These were also the first games not to be hosted in a newly built Olympic Village and the first to be broadcast on TV.
The logo for these games was very simple, a black Big Ben and Houses of Parliament on a white background with the Olympic rings (black outline, white inside) in the foreground and plain serif font. A motto for these games was not included in the logo, which personally I think was a huge mistake on the organizers’ parts given that these were the first games after the war – a motto would have helped raise the moral of fans all over the world.
1952 - Helsinki, Finland
In 1952, it was Finland’s turn to host the Olympics. The colour scheme of the logo is simple and straight to the point – blue and white – the Finnish flag colours. The large white building which is ‘holding up’ the Olympic rings logo, is (or was) the city symbol of Helsinki, representing the city sponsoring or ‘holding up’ the games.
1956 - Melbourne, Austarlia
in the 1956 logo, one can see a pattern forming where the designers form the logo from one main colour, minimal details and they are reintroducing the idea of imagery related to the host country – also the Olympic rings are left uncoloured rather than with the colours of the Olympic flag. In the logo, an Olympic torch coming up from the map of Australia is again ‘holding up’ the Olympic rings. Around the border the words “16th Olympiad” and “Melbourne 1956” fill the top and bottom of the logo with green laurel leaves to represent the wreaths given to the champions of the games in Ancient Greece.
1960 - Rome, Italy
The 1960 games logo was the first and only logo to include an animal in the design; however given the animal I can understand why the designer decided to include it.
The animal at the top of the logo is a she-wolf feeding the two young boys known as Romulus and Remus. According to an old legend these two boys were abandoned by their father in the wild and when the new mother wolf found them she ‘raised’ them along with her own children, according to the legend, Romulus grew up to build the capital city, known today as Rome.
Underneath the wolf are the letters MCMLX which are the roman numerals for 1960. Underneath the numeral are the Olympic rings. This design has reverted back to black and white which to some seems very old fashioned given the context of the world (the era of flower power) however when one considers that the design is hinting at old Roman legends the colour palette is quite fitting.
1964 - Tokyo, Japan
1964 and Tokyo finally get their chance to host the games 20 years after they were set to host them and had to cancel. The design for this logo is quite simple and straightforward; a white background with a red circle (The Japanese flag) with the Olympic rings, beneath the circle, in a light brown with the text ‘TOKYO 1964’ in the same colour.
1968 – Mexico City, Mexico
the logo for the 1968 games was one of the first to include the Olympic rings in full colour. From this year on, one starts to see a change in font styles, with each designer opting for a new, more modern font than the previous ones. Here, the designer decided to form the word ‘Mexico’ and the number ‘68’ with 3 grey split lines with at least one of the lines from each letter flowing on to the next one and so on. Personally I think that the grey text was a good choice to keep the Olympic rings as the only source of colour and therefore a stronger focal point, however I disagree with the placement of the rings on the number 68 as the number is not that recognizable.
1972 - Munich, (West) Germany
This logo is reminiscent of the 1964 logo with the simple design of the Olympic rings and a circle (this design is more simplified than the other with the complete exclusion of text). The colour palette of this logo is a softer blue on a white background. In contrast to the 1964 logo, the circle is ‘striped’ to give the impression of movement.
1976 - Montreal, Canada
1976 and yet another design with red as the main colour of the logo. The most interesting part of this design is the inclusion of the letter ‘M’ for Montreal above the Olympic rings in such a way that it makes everything appear woven together. It is also interesting to note that the overall shape of the rings and the ‘M’ together, form an abstract form of a maple leaf which is represented on the Canadian flag.
1982 - Moscow, Russia (Formerly USSR)
Again , red is the predominant colour in this logo, although not coincidently, considering that red is the colour associated with communism. Above the usual 5 rings, are 6 lines (forming in to 5) leading up to a point with a star at the top. This is used to represent the coming of Nations together in one ‘star’ city – Moscow.
1984 - Los Angeles, USA
The 1984 logo is very much similar to the previous two; however the colour in this one is more heavily played on, incorporating the three main colours in the flag of the United States: red, white and blue. A similar concept to the other two is the lines included in the logo. Two of the three stars at the top of the logo are formed using elongated lines to create an effect of motion – almost as if one were watching an athlete run. The decision to include the stars is quite obvious, not only are there stars representing the States on the flag, the stars are also representing the athletes – ‘the stars’ of the competition. The font is simple, bold and black but in Italic to continue the effect of motion. At the very bottom the Olympic rings in full colour.
1988 - Seoul, South Korea
Here, the Koreans kept much of the concepts introduced in the previous logo: the tri-coloured shape, the lines to help create movement, the simple text and the full colour Olympic rings. The new concept here is the decision to add yellow in the three main colours, replacing the white in the previous logo. The swirls in the logo can also hint to the South Korean flag where the red and blue join together in a swirl.
1992 - Barcelona, Spain
From this logo on, we start to see shapes representing one aspect or another of the host country formed into a person, or rather, athlete. Here, one can see three brush strokes, each in a different colour, forming a gymnast in a mid-air jump with their legs outstretched. The colours of the brush strokes represent the Spanish flag: red and yellow stripes with just a touch of blue (which can be found on the Royal Coat of Arms on the flag). Again the use of a simple font helps draw the eyes toward the main component of the logo. The Olympic rings are again represented in full colour.
1996 - Atlanta, USA
The logo for the 1996 games is based on the 100thanniversary of the first games after the founding of the International Olympics Committee (IOC). The logo is an Olympic torch with a red stencil flame coming out of it, and the flames transition smoothly into the American stars (although the inclusion of a purple star I strongly disagree with). At the base of the torch are the Olympic rings in black with the number 100 under the rings. Another simple font again, helps the viewer’s attention to be drawn to the torch logo rather than the text.
2000 - Sydney, Australia
The logo for the 2000 games is a very visually exciting one. The figure of a rhythmic gymnast during a routine are formed by a large red boomerang and two smaller yellow ones representing the legs and arms, a smaller circle for the head which represents the hot Australian sun and the blue ribbon forms the outline of the Sydney Opera house – which is the first which pops to mind when one thinks of Sydney. The font here isn’t as simple as the previous few, rather it seems as if it is formed using paint brushes in broad rough strokes. The rings are once again represented at the bottom in full colour.
2004 - Athens, Greece
Obviously, the motto for these games was ‘Welcome Home’, referring to the history of the games connected with that of the host country’s. Similarly the logo hints at symbols connected with the games and the host country. The background is a textured blue to represent the Greek flag, with a white laurel reef to represent the reef that was presented to the champions of the games in Ancient Greece. The two colours also represent those on the Greek flag. The font is, again, a simple one, however this time the colour is blue, obviously to tie in with the background of the logo, underneath it all, the five full colour Olympic rings.
2008 - Beijing, China
The logo for the Beijing Olympics was another apt design for the host country. The background is red to represent the colour of the Chinese flag, in white is a dancing figure based on the Chinese symbol for the word ‘capital’ obviously referring to Beijing. Here, the designer (much like the one who designed the 2000 logo) strays away from traditional and simple fonts, opting instead for a font closely representing the traditional Chinese alphabet and symbols.
2012 - London, United Kingdom
And now we come to the latest logo – London 2012. As one can easily notice upon first seeing the logo, it is almost completely independent from previous logos.
Here the designer has opted to work with extraordinary colours – mostly to represent the extraordinary year that the host city has had (with the Diamond Jubilee taking place only a month before the Olympic Opening), also being the only city to host the games for three editions ,the designers wanted to express this ‘uniqueness’ in the logo itself. The logo itself consists of two colours other than white. There have been various editions of this logo, each with their own colour combination, however the two most common combinations were a dark pink with a bright yellow border (appealing to a younger audience which ties in with the motto: “Inspire a generation”) and a dark blue with a red border (showing the colours of the Union Jack) in both versions, the word ‘London’ and the Olympic rings are white.
The font of the numbers to form the year, is inspired by the strange fonts and shapes introduced to the world through the internet. No doubt it’s a more modern take on a logo. Personally I agree with the designer’s idea to keep away from the colours traditionally used in Olympic logos and to use much more striking, contrasting colours.
Who knows what logo will be revealed in four years’ time, when Rio hosts the games for the first time. Although a logo has already been released (a number of them in fact) it is traditional for the host city to ‘tweak’ the logo in the space of those four years between its predecessor’s games and its own.
