2008 Summer Olympics Facts Logos Symbols Traditions Guide

							Like the Five Olympic Rings from which they draw their color and inspiration,
   Fuwa will serve as the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games,
                 carrying a message of friendship and peace.
                                 “The Beauty of Seal Characters“
   With strokes of seal characters as their basic form, the Pictograms of the Beijing 2008 Olympic
 Games integrate pictographic charm of inscriptions on bones and bronze objects in ancient China
with simplified embodiment of modern graphics, making them recognizable, memorable and easy to
                use. The new icons form and meaning are "harmonious and unified".
  The Logo of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay owes much of its inspiration to the traditional
concept of "fire phoenix", and presents the image of two runners holding the Olympic Flame high.
  As ancient Chinese legend has it, phoenix is the king of all birds, and symbolizes good fortune,
eternity, nobility and happiness. The use of the phoenix image in the Torch Relay logo conveys the
 idea that the Torch Relay will send the best wishes from the Beijing Olympic Games to people all
                                 over China and the rest of the world.
"These five rings -- blue, yellow, black, green and red -- represent the five
parts of the world now encompassed by Olympism and ready to compete
       against each other. Moreover, the six colors (including the white
     background) thus combined represent those of all nations, without
 exception. The blue and yellow of Sweden, the blue and white of Greece,
  the French, English, American, German, Belgian, Italian and Hungarian
    tricolours, the yellow and red of Spain are side by side with the new
Brazilian and Australian flags, the old Japan and the new China. It is a true
                            international emblem.”