The Pictograms for the Beijing 2008 Games have been released by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG). The Pictograms, which will play an important role in identifying Olympic sports and overall marketing, went on display at the two-year countdown to the opening of the Games.

As one of the main image elements of the Olympics, the Pictograms will be widely applied in areas such as directional instruction systems, advertising and communications, landscape and environmental arrangements, TV broadcasting and souvenir designs. The Pictograms also play an important role in identifying particular sports.

Named "the beauty of seal characters" and with strokes resembling seal characters as their basic form, the Pictograms integrate pictographic charm with inscriptions seemingly on bones and bronze objects in ancient China with simplified modern graphics making them recognizable, memorable and easy to use.

Skillfully using the effects of sharp contrast between the black and white colors which are a typical form of traditional Chinese artistic rubbings the Pictograms display distinct character, movement, a graceful, aesthetic portrayal of motion and rich cultural connotations. Taking all these things together the designers have arrived at something which displays harmony and unity.

The Beijing Olympics Pictograms comprise of 35 sport images from athletics, rowing, badminton, baseball, basketball, boxing, canoe/kayak flatwater, canoe/kayak slalom, cycling, equestrian, fencing, football, artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline, weightlifting, handball, hockey, judo, wrestling, swimming, synchronized swimming, diving, water polo, modern pentathlon, softball, taekwondo, tennis, table tennis, shooting, archery, triathlon, sailing, volleyball and beach volleyball.

In March 2005 the BOCOG invited four professional design institutes and organizations to the solicitation campaign of Pictograms of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The design based on "seal characters" by China Central Academy of Fine Arts and that on "string" by Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University were shortlisted after experts' appraisal.

A joint design working group between China Central Academy of Fine Arts and Academy of Arts and Design constantly improved and perfected the design in accordance with the views of BOCOG and experts from home and abroad.

In December 2005, BOCOG submitted the Beijing Olympic Pictograms to the 28 International Sports Federations for approval and all had endorsed them by April 2006. In June this year the International Olympic Committee (IOC) granted approval for the Pictograms.

(BOCOG August 7, 2006)