1924 – 1948

Paris 1924 marked the first Olympic Games of the modern era to have an official emblem representing the event. This tradition continues today, with varying degrees of success.

Paris 1924

Amsterdam 1928

Los Angeles 1932

Berlin 1936

Tokyo 1940

1940 and 1944 were two more Olympic games with no official logos. Unsurprising really, since both events were cancelled thanks to World War II. Japan did get as far as producing posters, however. The Japanese probably had bigger fish to fry at the time, so I’ll reserve judgement on this one.

London 1948

London’s history of dodgy Olympic logos began here. A sketch of the Palace of Westminster with the Olympic rings in the foreground.