Aug 19, 2016 4:29 PM

Gallery: Decoding the Hidden Meanings of Olympic Symbols

International Olympic Committee
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Tokyo's 1964 pictograms used simple silhouettes to depict the athletes.
International Olympic Committee
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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 Committee
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The 1972 Munich Olympics use elements from Tokyo's pictograms, but the figures are thinner and more uniform.
International Olympic Committee
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In 1976 Montreal reused Munich's symbols but changed them to a red hue.

International Olympic Committee
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An art student designed Moscow's 1980 unibody pictograms.
International Olympic Committee
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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 Committee
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Seoul's 1988 icons are distinguished by their white torsos.
International Olympic Committee
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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 Committee
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For the 1996 Olympics Malcom Grear designed a hyper-realistic set of pictograms based on photos of athletes.
International Olympic Committee
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For the Sydney 2000 Olympics, the designers created a group of pictograms where the legs and torso were replaced by boomerangs.

International Olympic Committee
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Athen's 2004 pictograms are meant to evoke the figures found on ancient Greek vases.
International Olympic Committee
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Beijing's 2008 pictograms use calligraphic strokes.

International Olympic Committee
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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 Committee
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This year's pictograms are meant to represent the curvy Brazilian landscape.

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