The official logos for the 2022 Winter Olympics and 2022 Winter Paralympics were unveiled late last week at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China; the host of these games to be held a little more than four years from now.
Focusing on the logo for the Olympic Games first, dubbed “Winter Dream” the symbol is based upon 冬, the Chinese character for winter while also designed to resemble athletes at the games — an ice skater at the top, a skier at the bottom. The ribbon connecting the entire design is symbolic of China’s rolling mountains as well as a reference to the Chinese New Year which will take place during the 2022 Olympics.
The colours have also been assigned meanings, beyond the obvious use of red and yellow as the two colours found in China’s flag; the blue represents dreams, the future and the purity of ice and snow, while red and yellow get double duty symbolizing passion, youth and vitality.
“The emblem is a symbol of ambitions and dreams. It will build excitement and anticipation in China and around the whole world for our shared goal of an outstanding Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022,” IOC President Thomas Bach said in the release. “[The emblem provides] a common image for people throughout the globe to connect with. It stands for the vision of Beijing 2022, showcasing the best of China to the world, a unique blend of modern and ancient traditions. And, of course, bringing the joy of winter sports to a new generation in China and beyond.”
The 2022 Winter Paralympics logo, unveiled at the same ceremony has been named “Flying High” while being based upon the Chinese character for “fly”, 飞, said to “conjure up images of a wheelchair athlete surging towards the finish line and victory”.
Beijing designer Lin Cunzhen, who also was involved with the 2008 Summer Olympics, was the designer of both the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic logos. Her design was chosen amongst 4,506 submissions sent in from around the world.
The city of Beijing, China becomes the first to host both a Winter and Summer Olympic games and they’re doing so within only fourteen years of each other. The 2022 Winter Olympics runs from February 4 to February 20, 2022 while the Paralympics gets underway a month later from March 4 through 13th.
Before we get to Beijing in 2022 we still have the 2018 Winter Olympics coming up quickly, the city of Pyeongchang in South Korea plays host just seven weeks from now; following that will be the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
A look at how the new Winter Olympic logo stacks up against it’s most recent predecessors:
