Paris Olympics 2024 logo meaning: Who was Marianne the face behind the Paris emblem?

PARIS will host the Olympics for the first time in a century in what promises to be a very special event.

The iconic city last hosted the summer of sport in 1924.

AFP

The French symbol of Marianne is contained within the logo[/caption]

Rex

The logo also pays tribute to the Olympic flame[/caption]

AP

And of course a gold medal[/caption]

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The idea to create a modern Olympics was devised by a Frenchman – Pierre de Coubertin and so is commonly seen as France‘s idea.

It saw the sporting world agree upon a sporting festival every four years, bringing back the Olympic event from the ancient Greeks.

Appropriately, the first tournament was hosted in Athens in 1896.

Paris then hosted the next games in 1904, and did so again in 1924 but have not played host since then.

It was therefore vital that this year’s Olympics had a logo worthy of the magnitude of the event.

Who is Marianne, the woman in the Olympics logo?

Marianne is a symbol created to represent the values of France and her silhouette can be seen in the outlines of the flame.

Her outline can be seen within the logo, which also consists of a gold medal and Olympic flame.

Marianne became the symbol of France after the French revolution and was intended to replace monarchist symbols on items such as coins and bank notes.

Her symbol can be seen on stamps and public offices across France.

She epitomises the three pillars of the French Republic: liberty, equality and fraternity.

According to Paris 2024: “Marianne, symbol of the French Republic, represents the same values we find in sport, the Olympics and the Paralympics – humanism, fraternity, generosity and sharing.

“Marianne is a familiar face in French culture that is omnipresent in day-to-day life, appearing on stamps and outside every town hall for example. She reflects our desire to organise the Games for the people, in close collaboration with the people.

What about the rest of the logo?

The first part of the logo is a gold medal, symbolising the highest level of achievement for Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

The games say: “The medal for the Paris 2024 Games isn’t reserved solely for champions.

“It is there to reward all those who give everything they have and enable others to do the same.”

That is drawn into with the outline of the Olympic flame – an iconic part of the Olympics.

The idea for the Olympic flame was derived from ancient Greek ceremonies where a sacred fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the ancient Olympics.

The flame is kept alight and carried by torch relay across the host nation before igniting a fire in the host stadium during the opening ceremony.