The logo of the 2024 Olympics in Paris: who designed it and what does it mean?

Described as a tribute to female athletes - and subjected to significant social-media derision - the logo for the Paris Olympics is a combination of three images: a gold medal, the Olympic flame and the face of Marianne.

Who is Marianne? What does she symbolise?

Marianne is the name given to a national icon of France, an allegorical female figure who personifies the values of the French Republic: liberty, equality and fraternity. In France, her likeness is displayed, for example, on French stamps and in town halls nationwide. In the French capital, Marianne is represented in notable statues in the Place de la Nation and Place de la République.

Marianne is depicted in the Paris 2024 logo in the form of hair and lips. “She reflects our desire to organise the Games for the people, in close collaboration with the people,” the Olympics’ organisers say, adding: “Her face is also a homage to female athletes and a nod to history, as it was in 1900 at the Olympic Games in Paris that women were first allowed to compete.”

Paris 2024 a landmark Olympics for women

The 2024 Summer Olympics will be the first in the event’s history to be fully gender-equal, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) offering an even number of places to male and female competitors. “We are about to celebrate one of the most important moments in the history of women at the Olympic Games, and in sport overall,” IOC president Thomas Bach said in March.

What do the gold medal and flame represent?

Meanwhile, the symbol of the gold medal, which can be seen in the Olympic logo’s gold, round background, is said to represent both achievement and effort. The medal “isn’t reserved solely for champions”, reads the logo’s official description, “[but] is there to reward all those who give everything they have and enable others to do the same.”

Finally, the image of the Olympic flame - which chiefly blends with the depiction of Marianne’s hair and lips - symbolises “the unique energy that drives this mega event”. The flame “encourag[es] us to be bold and forge a new way of organising the Games to rise to the challenges we face today”, organisers say.

Who designed the Paris 2024 logo?

The logo will also be used for the 2024 Summer Paralympics in late August and early September - the first time in Olympic history that the same emblem has been adopted at both Games.

The image was created by the French graphic designer Sylvain Boyer, who says it was born out of a desire to put together a logo that “represent sports in Europe”. In an interview with The Creative Factor last month, Boyer said: “This type of imagery is always one of a male’s performance. We wanted to do something different. We thought, What happens if we take a woman’s face and put it in the performance arena? And so the shock, the semantic shock, comes from that.

“Our country has an allegory, Marianne, who is the symbol of democracy and the Republic. In fact, we see a lot of women’s allegories all over the world - think of the Statue of Liberty, for instance. When we designed our logo, we jumped off of our country’s cultural context and historical legacy.”

What was the reaction to the logo?

When it was unveiled in 2019, the Paris 2024 emblem attracted no shortage of criticism. Among other swipes taken at the design, social-media users likened it to the logo for the dating app Tinder, dismissed it as looking like an emoji, and suggested it would be more at home on the packaging of a haircare product.

What’s more, its reduction of Marianne to hair and lips was described by one design expert as “an oddly sexist representation of France”, with another saying: “I’m in a bit of disbelief that a pair of shapely lips is a ‘nod to female athletes’.”

Speaking to The Creative Factor, Boyer said he expected criticism, but was taken aback by the force of the backlash. “We knew before revealing it that it might be an offense to some people,” he said. “But I was not prepared for what it was like. It was a huge conversation through the media.”

Paris 2024: dates, how to watch in the USA

The opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics is to be held on Friday July 26 - although some events got underway on Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25. The Games are to come to a conclusion on Sunday August 11, when the closing ceremony takes place at the Stade de France.

TV viewers in the United States will be able to watch the Olympics on NBC Olympics, Telemundo, Universo and Peacock, as well as NBC sister channels including CNBC, E! and USA Network.