From Paris to Paris: A Century of Olympic Emblems
With the Olympics upon us, we thought it would be fun to explore the evolution of the summer event's branding. Historically, the emblem design is imbued with symbolism—oftentimes honoring the spirit and history of the competition and always representing the hosting city and nation in some way. Join us as we take a journey back in time, starting with the last Paris Olympics held 100 years ago, and see how the visual identity of this iconic event has transformed over the decades.
Paris 1924
The Parisian Olympic Games emblem of 1924 was an augmentation of the city’s coat of arms—a linear depiction of a ship at sea in a shield; a hatched background adds depth and color to the sky. A couple of fleur-de-lis, the symbol of France, sit at the top.
Los Angeles 1932
Harry Muir Kurtzworth’s emblem design configured the American flag in the form of a shield, layered with the Olympic rings interwoven with a detailed laurel branch—the symbol of victory. The emblem is also adorned with a banner that reads the motto "Citius, Altius, Fortius" (faster, higher, stronger).
Berlin 1936
Multiple versions of Johannes Boehland’s emblem design were created, as the President of the Game’s Organizing Committee was not satisfied with the original version. The resulting emblem features the Imperial eagle sitting above the Olympic rings on a bell that became the most iconic symbol of the games that year. On the bottom of the bell is the inscription “Ich rufe die Jugend der Welt!” (I call the youth of the world).
London 1948
For the first time ever, an architectural landmark was leveraged for the game’s emblem. A prominent, off-centered Big Ben rises into a bold, outlined serif font with outlined Olympic rings layered over the architectural landscape.
Helsinki 1952
The 1952 emblem was designed by Paul Soderstrom and featured a minimal, graphic representation of a white tower next to the Olympic stadium. The poster used that year was designed for the 1940 games, which were never held due to WWII.
Melbourne 1956
A traditional emblem design was featured in 1956, which featured the shape of Australia with a torch framed by laurel leaves—a nod to the ancient games—neatly contained in an oblong emblem.
Rome 1960
Armando Testa took a gilded and enigmatic approach to his emblem design, which was the only emblem in history that did not include the name of the hosting city. The focal point is a depiction of a Roman she-wolf with two suckling brothers—Remus and Romulus—believed to be the founders of the city.
Tokyo 1964
Yusaku Kamekura’s minimalist emblem design is undeniably Japanese. It borrows the red rising sun from the Japanese flag positioned tightly above the Olympic rings in all gold to honor the competition. Kamekura’s accompanying poster design, which was printed by photoengraving several colors, highlighted the innovation of the Japanese printing industry and received a number of awards.
Mexico 1968
A psychedelic play on the Olympic rings won out for the 1968 logo designed by Pedro Ramirez Vasquez, Eduardo Terrazas, and Lance Wyman. They created a decorative font which, when repeated, recalls a pattern of the native Huichol people. They used perfect circles to create the “6” and “8” to allow the Olympic rings to perfectly layover the year.
Munich 1972
Perhaps one of the most non-traditional Olympic emblems was created by Otl Aicher, who accompanied a swirl of rays of light with a Swiss-German style and layout style.
Montreal 1976
The ultra-minimal emblem, designed by George Huel, extended the top three Olympic rings into a podium form, which can also be interpreted as an abstract “M” for Montreal.
Moscow 1980
Parallel lines of a racetrack rise into an architectural form—referencing the architectural landmarks built during the time of Stalinist Classicism. Designed by Vladimir Arsentyev, in monochrome Soviet red.
Los Angeles 1984
“Stars In Motion '' designed by Robert Miles Runyon, was inspired by the spirit of competition—the star as a universal symbol of achievement, three of them to represent first, second and third place, and their linear sense of movement as a reference to the speed of an athlete.
Seoul 1988
The Korean emblem features a samtaeguk pattern—a traditional Korean motif representing the country, often used on flags, fans and artifacts. Yang Sung-Chung designed the symbol in a swirling motion to represent people coming together in Seoul for the event.
Barcelona 1992
Josep Maria Arias designed the Spanish emblem with movement. An abstract athlete appears to be jumping over the classic Olympic rings in the logo.
Atlanta 1996
For the centennial Olympics, Michael Collins from Landor & Associations drew inspiration from the games’ origins, using a “100” to form a Greek-style column. The green represents the leaves of branches initially awarded to the champions, and the gold represents the medals we have awarded them.
Sydney 2000
FHA Image Design created an emblem layered with references to the iconic Australian landscape—hints of rock formations, sun, sea, a boomerang, and the Sydney Opera House in the torch smoke.
Athens 2004
The wreath made from an olive branch, or kornitos, the original award presented to Olympic champions, was the symbol artfully abstracted by Red Design Consultants for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece.
Beijing 2008
Guo Chunning combined the art of calligraphy with the Chinese emblem and a running figure resembling the Chinese character “jing”—short for the hosting city—to create a playful and welcoming logo that is stylistically very representative of Chinese culture.
London 2012
Brand consultancy Wolff Olins broke the mold with their jagged-edged 2012 logo, imbued with electric energy.
Rio 2016
The sculptural and vibrantly colored symbol designed by the creative agency Tátil was inspired by the mountainous coastal landscape and intended to replicate ancient symbols of unity.
Tokyo 2020
Intended to represent “Unity in Diversity,” this logo was designed by Asai Tokyo and features a blue checkered pattern known as “ichimatsu mayo” in Japan during the Edo Period (1603-1867). Three variations of the checkered pattern symbolize the different countries, cultures, and ways of thinking displayed via the Olympics.
Paris 2024
The logo, designed by Sylvain Boyer, is the culmination of three symbols: the gold medal, the Olympic flame, and Marianne—the embodiment of the French Republic.