Quadruple IHF Men’s World Championship winner and two-time Olympic Games gold medallist Jérôme Fernandez helped to launch the visual identity of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games on Wednesday (8 February).

Former France captain Fernandez, who appeared 390 times for his country, scoring 1,463 goals, was joined by Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024, Emmanuel Grégoire, First Deputy Mayor of Paris, Laurent Mazaury, Sports Vice-President of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, and Julie Matikhine, Brand Director of Paris 2024, at the launch event in Saint-Denis, north of the French capital Paris.

The Look
The visual identity, known as ‘The Look of the Games’, is the ‘…decoration that will be used to dress every competition venue, together with the towns and celebration sites that will be decked out in the Games colours for several weeks’, according to the Paris 2024 Organising Committee.

It embodies ‘French elegance, a bold new aesthetic and the rich symbolism of the paved streets found in France’s urban landscapes’ and is based on four different objectives - celebration, transfer, rationalisation and personalisation - with each one reflecting the overall message of the Games. 

The look features blue, red, green and violet colours representing the richness and diversity of France and the spirit of the Paris 2024 slogan, ‘Games Wide Open’.

Pictograms revealed
As part of the look, 62 ‘pictograms’ representing every sporting discipline of the Paris 2024 Games were launched.

Pictograms are pictorial symbols for a word or phrase – in this case sport – which convey its meaning in a simple, direct and visual way.

The Paris 2024 pictograms are based on the medieval northern European ‘coats of arms’ which were seen on shields and used to identify those holding them.

For Paris 2024, they represent a ‘badge of honour for not only a sporting discipline but also a family, sense of pride, set of values and a community, paying homage to the complexity of each of the sports and what makes them original…a symbol of each wearer belonging to a chosen sporting family and a sign of affinity with a great and beautiful sporting community.’

IHF involved with development
Every pictogram was designed with the international federation responsible for each sporting discipline represented.

They are all composed of three graphical elements: a representation of the sporting discipline, a distinctive aspect of the pitch, court or track used by the sporting discipline and an axis of symmetry, and these three elements are then combined into a unique coat of arms.

The International Handball Federation and Paris 2024 Organising Committee worked together on the design process for the handball pictogram. 

The final version highlights the goal, area, seven-metre and nine-metre lines, plus the iconic hexagonal-panel handball, a variation of which features in the IHF logo itself. 

“The International Federations played a role in their development,” said Matikhine at the launch. “For fencing, for example, the pictogram shows the three different types of blades with foil and epee at the top and sabre at the bottom. There is a type of finesse in detail and the accuracy of the sporting endeavour. We discussed the design of the mask in great detail with the International Federation to have the best representation possible.”

Pictograms will be present throughout competition venues and appear everywhere the Games are taking place to guide spectators and drive the crowds.

Read more about the Paris 2024 pictograms.

Watch a video about the Paris 2024 pictograms.

Read about the history of pictograms at the Olympic Games.

Read more about the Paris 2024 brand.

Read about handball at the Olympic Games.

Photos: Paris 2024