The Olympics Logo Design Portrays That Even Constants Change With Time
The Olympics are arguably the world’s biggest international sporting event. If not the biggest, definitely the oldest. We all have a favorite athlete or a discipline in the games.
And while the best athletes devote their whole life to presenting their country in the sporting world every four years, more than three billion people watch and cheer for their favorites on television. If you’re a sports fan, you can check out some of the best sports websites here.
This long tradition and the event’s power to unite the planet can best be seen in the Olympics logo design. Each host country gets the chance to decorate it with an add-on representing the country’s art, history or culture, but ever since 1913, there’s been a constant element across all the Olympics designs – the five rings.
Let’s go back and find out why the Olympics is so precious to many and why the famous Olympic games logo never changes its core.
From Ancient Greece to the Modern World: The History of the Olympic Games
Contrary to what it is today, where we have a lot of marketing and national pride involved, the Olympics were originally a religious event held every other year in Ancient Greece. Back then, athletes competed in honor of Zeus, the supreme God.
Since these events were reserved for men, the Greeks organized another similar event for women athletes. The women competed in honor of Hera, Zeus’ wife.
And while these games ended in A. D. 394, they were revived in Athens in 1896, bringing about the first “modern” Olympics we know and love today. The modern games also introduced the Winter Olympics a while later, in 1924.
The Father of the Modern Olympics and the Creator of the Olympics Sports Logo Design
The modern Olympics is the brainchild of Pierre de Coubertin, whose thoughts represent the Olympic games today: "The important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle; the essential thing is not to have conquered, but to have fought well."
In 1894, he formed the International Olympic Committee – still responsible for the rules and regulations of the games and the Olympic Games logos.
However, the first versions of the modern Olympics were reserved for amateurs, forbidding pro athletes from performing. Despite sounding ancient, this rule was only changed in 1986.
De Coubertin is also responsible for the original Olympic logo that's still being used today. He developed the original Olympic Games logo in 1913.
The Original Olympics Logo and Its Growing Relevance
From the start, the logo consisted of five rings intertwined into a horizontal chain. They are placed in two rows with three rings above the other two, effectively looking like the letter “W.” The rings were supposed to be gold, silver and bronze – reflecting the Olympic medals. However, this was altered to promote the potential unity and inclusiveness of the sports world.
Each of the rings in the Olympics logo is colored differently. It contains a blue, yellow, black, green and red ring against the white background.
It’s not a coincidence that there are five rings, each representing an inhabited continent. Blue is for Europe, yellow for Asia, black for Africa, green for Oceania and red for America.
But the colors are meant to serve one more purpose: at least one of these colors, including the white background, can be found on the flag of every country in the world!
Despite being invented in 1913, the Olympic sports logo was first used in the 1920 Antwerp-based games.
While the Olympic logo’s design mostly remained the same, a few tweaks have been made in the past century.
Minor Alterations on the Olympic Logo Preserved Its Core Identity
Ultimately, the Olympics logo is unique, representative and progressive. But it's no stranger to several alterations. The rings have witnessed a few changes in positioning, connection, and width.
The first changes were finalized by 1957, with the pattern now scalable to fit more different variations and advertising material. The designers also tweaked the rows' density and the lines' width several times.
In 1986, the emblem underwent another modification. The main feature of this change was the introduction of blank spaces at the joints of the rings, basically intercepting each circle at the cross-section. The colors were also modernized and more appealing than the original Olympics designs.
In 2010 the white lines were finally removed and the original design was practically revived. While the colors remained the same, the designers updated the shades. The modern Olympic sports logo features far thinner lines, adding style and structure to the design.
From the get-go, the Olympics aimed to be inclusive. So, apart from the Summer and Winter Olympics, there are also the Paralympics for people with disabilities and the Youth Olympic Games for children. (Check out the top Winter Olympics ads here),
The Paralympics has a different logo design. The emblem consists of three crescent-shaped lines in red, blue and green. Each symbol represents an Agitos (Latin for “I move”), staying in line with the inclusive values of the event.
Everyone Can Find Something To Love in the Olympic Games
So, what makes the Olympics the most remarkable global sporting event?
The Olympics offer endless entertainment. And while you wait for the next one, check out some web design Olympics examples and see the best entertainment website designs.
While people want to believe that sports events should not be political, the modern Olympics has always been progressive. This event is an excellent platform for positive messages, from the inclusion of women from the second games (1900) or the more recent first Refugee Olympic Team that had its debut in the Rio Olympics (2016).
The games offer diversity. With as many as 40 sports and athletic disciplines in the Olympic catalog, the event has something for everyone.
Last but not least, the Olympics designs. The Olympic Games logos mark the passage of time and our continual evolution. While the core Olympic logo is constant, the endless variations are a wonderful artistic expression of the host country’s culture and worldview. These artworks showcase the ingenuity and creativity of logo designers in capturing the essence of each unique Olympic event.
