The emblem of Nagano 1998

redit: IOC / Olympic Museum collections

A flower, with each petal representing an athlete practising a winter sport, and which can also be seen as a snowflake symbolising the Olympic Winter Games. The emblem is also evocative of a mountain flower, emphasising Nagano's commitment to the environment, and was thus named Snowflower. The dynamic nature of this vivid and colourful picture foreshadowed the enthusiastic atmosphere in which the Games took place, and symbolised their brilliance throughout the world.

(Credit: IOC. Click here for further information.)