Here is a closer look at some of the Icons, Logos and Symbols of the Olympics.

The Olympic Rings: Maybe the most recognizable logo of the games, the 5 rings represent the 5 inhabited continents of the world: : Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania (including Australia).

Created by Pierre De Coubertin in 1914.

“	The Olympic flag … has a white background, with five interlaced rings in the centre: blue, yellow, black, green and red … This design is symbolic ; it represents the five inhabited continents of the world, united by Olympism, while the six colors are those that appear on all the national flags of the world at the present time.	”
—Pierre De Coubertin (1931)

The Medals

The Olympic Medals are arguable the main focus of the events. Who will get Gold? The design of the medal can be a touchy subject. Like the medals for the Torino Games, with “DVD

on a Ribbon” The look of the medals (prior to Torino) look kinda boring. They are very similar, with what looks like a winged victory on the front, and typically a smaller side. They certainly hold the same meaning but even with Torino’s slight miss on the design, it’s definitely something different. This year the Olympic Medals feature First Nation Designs, and are curvy, like ripples on the water or the rolling landscape. Each medal has a piece of larger artwork on them, which poetically ties all the athletes together. It also happens that the Vancouver Medals are using recycled metals as well, from cell phones and laptops. Go Green! Watch this beautiful video for the whole story.

Vancover 2010

The Icon and Logo for these Olympic games is named Ilanaaq the Inukshuk. Ilanaaq is the Inuktitut word for friend, and is a stone landmark or cairn which may have been used for navigation, as a point of reference, a marker for hunting grounds, or as a food cache.

Here is a look at some of the Olympic Logos from past Games!

LOOKING FORWARD

2012: Summer Olympics is London. England. London Calling!!

2014: Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia the First time the Russian Federation will hold the Winter Olympics. Tonight (2/28/10) we’ll see there presentation from Vancouver.

2016: Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The 2nd time Latin America will hold the games. The last time was Mexico 1968.

I have really enjoyed these winter games. It reminded me of the first time I really paid attention, when they where held in Lillehammer. The magic and excitement where there and overall they were rewarding to watch. I hope you enjoyed watching them as I did! I wanted to leave you with a BBC promo and a German Promo done about these Olympic Games. Enjoy the closing ceremonies!