#500DaysToGo: Tokyo Organising Committee reveals Paralympic Pictograms

With just 500 days before the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, the Organising Committee of the Paralympic Games has revealed the official pictograms for all 23 sporting events, including sitting volleyball. The 2020 Games aims to promote “Innovation from Harmony,” and the pictograms were designed to stay true to this promise.

This continues the tradition of visually representing each Paralympic sport through icons.

The pictogram designs pay homage to the first ones used when the Japanese introduced pictograms to the Olympic Games back at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 to visually communicate each sport.

According to Japanese designer Masaaki Hiromura, who led the team that designed the Tokyo 2020 pictograms, the pictograms are created to highlight the athleticism of each sport and dynamism of athletes. It took his team almost two years to complete the design.

“I have tried to express the dynamic beauty of the athletes through these pictograms, while respecting the legacy bequeathed by the pioneers of the Japanese design industry in their designs for the Tokyo 1964 Games,” Hiromura said. “I hope that these pictograms will inspire everyone and help generate excitement for the different sports at Tokyo 2020, and that they will colourfully decorate the Tokyo 2020 Games.”

The Tokyo 2020 games will feature sitting volleyball for the 11th time in history, and will feature both men’s and women’s competition. Matches will be held from 28 August to 6 September at the Makuhari Messe Hall A.