Tokyo’s Olympic committee unveiled the official logos for the 2020 Games on Friday, days after the Japanese prime minister ordered plans for the new stadium to be scrapped over the huge $2 billion price tag.
The logos for the Olympic and Paralympic games are based around the letter “T” for Tokyo and an upended “=” sign to represent equality.
“The black colour of the central column represents diversity, the combination of all colours,” the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee said in a statement.
“The red of the circle represents the power of every beating heart.”
The letter “T” represents “Tokyo”, “Tomorrow” and “Team”, it said.
The logos were unveiled with fanfare as the Games face controversy, with Japan ditching its original plans for the new Olympic stadium amid public anger over its huge cost.
Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid’s futuristic design had been met with fury by many Japanese architects. What began as a cosmetic row gave way to widespread discontent and public bickering over finances.
Construction costs for the new National Stadium had nearly doubled to 252 billion yen ($2.03 billion), which would have put it on track to become the world’s most expensive stadium.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters last week: “I have decided we must go back to the drawing board.”