The Olympic posters are part of the greater promotion plan devised each time by the country hosting the Olympic Games for the better and easier communication of this major sporting event. Olympic posters are closely associated with the place and time of the Games and reflect the social, cultural and sometimes the political context of the host country each time.[1] The Organizing Committee of the host country usually announces an artistic contest for the creation of the posters. Then a special committee decides which entry will be the official poster of the Games. The design process is often given strict guidelines for content, since the committee has already decided the elements it wished to include in the design and the specific messages it must convey.
Although, today the creation of a poster is deemed necessary, in the first modern Olympic Games there were no posters specially designed for the Games. The first official poster that was specially designed for the Olympic Games, following the approval of the competent committee, was the poster for the 1912 Games held in Stockholm. The poster depicted the march of the nations represented by athletes holding their national flags. All posters are the property of the IOC.[2]
| Games | Host | Design | Designer(s) | Image | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Paris, France | It shows the Exposition medal on top of the Eiffel Tower | ||||
| 1904 | St. Louis, United States | It shows the Olympic venues during the 1904 Expo | ||||
| 1920 | Antwerp, Belgium | It shows a man holding a ball while being surrounded with flags and the Cathedral of Our Lady | ||||
| 1948 | London, Great Britain | It shows a statue of a discus thrower in front of the Palace of Westminster | ||||
| 1984 | Los Angeles, United States | It shows the logo of the 1984 Summer Olympics with images of the host country. | Robert Rauschenberg | Link to poster | ||
| 2024 | Paris, France |
| Games | Host | Design | Designer(s) | Image | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1924 | Paris, France | It shows an eagle holding a branch while looking at bobsleghers | ||||
| 1968 | Grenoble, France | The poster shows the Olympic rings screaming down a mountain. | Jean Brain | Link to poster | ||
| 1972 | Sapporo, Japan | The poster shows the logo of the 1972 Winter Olympics on top of Mount Asahi and Shikotsu-Tōya National Park | Takashi Kono | Link to poster | ||
| 1976 | Innsbruck, Austria | The poster shows the Olympic rings on the tip of a skate blade forming an "i" for Innsbruck. | Arthur Zelger | Link to poster | ||
| 1980 | Lake Placid, United States | It shows the logo for the 1980 Winter Olympics | ||||
| 1984 | Sarajevo, Yugoslavia | It shows the logo for the 1984 Winter Olympics in front of a snowflake falling from the sky | Link to poster | |||
| 1988 | Calgary, Canada | It shows the logo for the 1988 Winter Olympics on top of Calgary | Link to poster |