Gallery: Decoding the Hidden Meanings of Olympic Symbols
International Olympic Committee011964-1.jpg
Tokyo's 1964 pictograms used simple silhouettes to depict the athletes.
International Olympic Committee021968-1.jpg
Lance Wyman's graphics for the 1968 Mexico City Games were a bold departure. The color and shapes were based on pre-Hispanic glyphs.
International Olympic Committee031972-1.jpg
The 1972 Munich Olympics use elements from Tokyo's pictograms, but the figures are thinner and more uniform.
International Olympic Committee041976-1.jpg
In 1976 Montreal reused Munich's symbols but changed them to a red hue.
International Olympic Committee051980-1.jpg
An art student designed Moscow's 1980 unibody pictograms.
International Olympic Committee061984-1.jpg
The organizing committee of the 1984 Los Angeles Games were interested in using Munich's set of pictograms, but realized it would be cheaper to design them from scratch. You can still see Munich's lineage in the streamlined design.
International Olympic Committee071988-1.jpg
Seoul's 1988 icons are distinguished by their white torsos.
International Olympic Committee081992-1.jpg
In 1992, Barcelona's pictograms marked the first time since Mexico City that the pictograms took on a highly-stylized look. The icons were meant to evoke the Games' logo, which used similar sweeping gestures.
International Olympic Committee091996-1.jpg
For the 1996 Olympics Malcom Grear designed a hyper-realistic set of pictograms based on photos of athletes.
International Olympic Committee102000-1.jpg
For the Sydney 2000 Olympics, the designers created a group of pictograms where the legs and torso were replaced by boomerangs.
International Olympic Committee112004-1.jpg
Athen's 2004 pictograms are meant to evoke the figures found on ancient Greek vases.
International Olympic Committee122008-1.jpg
Beijing's 2008 pictograms use calligraphic strokes.
International Olympic Committee132012-1.jpg
For the 2012 Olympics, SomeOne designed a set of humanistic pictograms that were meant to tie into the overall graphic identity of the Games.
International Olympic Committee142016-1.jpg
This year's pictograms are meant to represent the curvy Brazilian landscape.
