Prague, April 24 (CTK) – The Czech Olympic Committee (COV) changed its logo today in compliance with new international requirements, and the new logo still contains a Czech flag and the Olympic circles, but no longer the motif of lime tree leaves.
“It is not our initiative, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has toughened the conditions for the use of the circles and most national Olympic committees are forced to adjust their logos,” COV chairman Jiri Kejval said at the COV plenary session.
“We watched sports fans to find out what they paint on their faces and clothes, and it was always the motif of the flag. Successful athletes, too, run around stadiums holding a Czech flag,” Kejval said.
“People say our new logo is nothing special, but simpleness means strength. The trend is to simplify things and be transparent: a flag and the circles. That’s all,” Kejval said.
Established in 1900, the Czech Olympic Committee had various versions of a two-tailed lion in its emblem in the beginning.
After WWI, when independent Czechoslovakia was born, the lion was replaced by the state flag. The lion “returned” to the emblem after WWII, joined by a five-pointed star in 1956.
In 1972, a new COV logo consisted of a flag, the circles and a few leaves of lime tree, which is the Czech “national tree”. The leaves were deleted from it after 45 years today.
