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International Paralympic Committee

Paralympic Games / IPC

Last modified: 2023-06-10 by zachary harden
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[International Paralympic Committee] image by Zachary Harden, 7 February 2021


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The IPC flag

[International Paralympic Committee]
logo with text variant; image by Zachary Harden, 06 November 2020

The IPC altered their logo again in 2019; the Agitos have been redrawn to where not only each element is the same size, but they also rotate from the same central point. The Agitos have been recolored as well to where the blue, red and green are using the same Pantone shades as the Olympic Rings (3005 for blue, 355 for green and 192 for red) in the interests of the vibrancy of the Paralympians but in the interests of sustainability. While this logo change will update the flag, I have not seen anything the above brand guide that discusses any specifications or changes to the flag. The guide gives NPCs until 31 December of 2023 to change to the new logo and the main IPC logo was first launched with the release of the 2024 logos for Paris. There also has been a modification of the Beijing 2022 Paralympics logo with not only the updated Agitos but removed the text "Paralympic Games" that was between the game's emblem and the Agitos.
Zachary Harden, 7 February 2021

2014-2019 flag

[International Paralympic Committee (2014-2019)] 2014-2019 flag image by Rob Raeside, 23 April 2014

The current design of the flag does not contain (IPC). I am attaching the current version. Could you ensure the page is updated and that the old symbol is tagged and captioned as the old symbol?
Natalia Dannenberg-Spreier,  Digital Media Manager, International Paralympic Committee (IPC), 23 April 2014

Natalia provided a 1 MB image of the central part of the logo, so I amended our previous flag image removing the IPC (and the black edge) and updated the colours to those on the logo provided.
Rob Raeside, 23 April 2014

I followed this up with a message to Natalia Dannenberg-Spreier, who is  the IPC's Digital Media Manager, to determine whether the change merely consisted of removing the letters or whether the position of the other parts had changed because of that. And I asked whether she could help with an introduction date and with the reverse of the flag. Today I received the following explanations:

Natalia Dannenberg-Spreier wrote:
"The London 2012 Games were the first time that the Paralympic logo did not include the letters "IPC". The removal of the letters was the only change. On the reverse side of the [flag] you see the image reversed too."

Based on this, I modified Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán's construction sheet which was based on International Paralympic Committee Standards Manual, to a version without the lettering. (In the process I also created a version without decimals, as usually we pick the values not to need decimals.)
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 03 June 2014

The last Paralympics to use the Agitos with the letters was the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Canada.
Zachary Harden, 3 February 2021

Recognized Federation flag

[International Paralympic Committee]
image by Zachary Harden, 13 November 2020

In a picture displayed on the website of the New Zealand Powerchair Football, there is a white flag with the logo of the IPC with text above and below the Agitos. The text above says "Recognized by" and below says "International Paralympic Committee." This flag and branding is used for organizations that are not members of the IPC, but have an official status with the IPC.
Zachary Harden, 13 November 2020


History of the IPC flag and logo


Overview

At the 1988 Summer Paralympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, Tae-Geuks were used in the logo for sports for athletes with a disability for the first time. This logo consisted of five Tae-Geuks which were similar, in colour and configuration, to the Olympic Rings. At the end of these Games the logo was adopted by the International Coordinating Committee of World Sports Organizations for the Disabled (ICC). When the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) was created in 1989, the new committee also adopted the five Tae-Geuks as its symbol.
In 1991 the IPC changed its logo at the request of the IOC, which felt the similarity of their logos was confusing and might hamper marketing. Thus the IPC eventually decided on a symbol of three Tae-Geuks, representing the Paralympic Motto: Mind, Body, and Spirit. However, since the Lillehammer Paralympic Organizing Committee (LPOC) had by then already started a marketing program for the 1994 Paralympic Winter Games based on the old logo, the new logo wasn't officially launched until after Lillehammer 1994 at the IPC Athletics World Championships in Berlin that same year.
Logo.doc - International Paralympics Committee


[The IPC flag as used in 1988-1994] image by Juan Manuel Gabino villascán, December 2005.
Source: International Paralympic Committee


[The IPC flag used since 1991 until 2004.] image by Victor Lomantsov, 24 September 2003.
Source: Andreas Herzfeld, Flags and logos of International Sports Federations, Associations and Organizations. Deutsche Gesellshaft fur Flaggenkunde e.V. 2000
Flag adopted: 1991
Officially launched: 1994.


Section I - Constitution and By Laws

Chapter 4 - The paralympic Movement Symbols, Rights and Obligations

(...)

3. PARALYMPIC SYMBOL
The Paralympic Symbol consists of the three "Tae-Geuks", blue, red, and green, symbolizing the most significant components of the human being: Mind, Body, Spirit. The Pantone colours and configurations are outlined in the graphic guidelines "IPC Standards Manual" which is mandatory to followed for any reproduction of the symbol.

4. PARALYMPIC MOTTO
The Paralympic Motto is "Mind, Body, Spirit", alluding to the most significant components of the human being.

5. PARALYMPIC FLAG
The Paralympic Flag has a white background, with no border. In its centre is located the Paralympic Symbol in its three colours.

Source: The handbook of the International Paralympic Committee, as used in 1994-2003.


2004-2012

[The IPC flag adopted in 2004.] image by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán,
based on International Paralympic Committee Standards Manual.
Flag adopted: April 2004.

April, 2003. At its meeting in Athens on 5 April 2003, the IPC Executive Committee decided on a new corporate identity for the IPC. Working with the internationally renowned agency Scholz & Friends and many of the IPC stakeholders, a new look for the organisation was created, centred on the new direction of the IPC.

The new Paralympic logo consists of three elements in red, blue and green—the three colours that are most widely represented in national flags around the world. The shape of the three elements symbolises the new vision of the IPC "To Enable Paralympic Athletes to Achieve Sporting Excellence and to Inspire and Excite the World". The universality of the Paralympic Movement is shown through the round shape of the entire logo—symbolising the globe.

"Spirit in Motion" is the new Paralympic motto, expressing the inspirational character of the Paralympic Movement as well as elite performance of Paralympic athletes. It also stands for the strong will of every Paralympian. The word "Spirit" is derived from the notion that the IPC, like the athletes it represents, has a drive to compete and to succeed. But the IPC not only stages high performance sporting events, the strong message of the Movement accompanies it: the Paralympic Spirit. "Motion" relates to the idea that the IPC is truly moving forward—an organisation that realises its potential and is now striving to achieve it. Motion is ever present in the Movement, be it through athletes setting new records or the never-ending enthusiasm of volunteers and staff. Also, the Paralympian will have a new look in the future. The IPC is starting to use the new logo in all new publications and other products, and is looking forward to finalising this process by the ATHENS 2004 Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony.When handing over the flag to Beijing, a flag with the new logo will be used. The transition will be completed and from that day on, the old logo will no longer be used.

This new Paralympic look will also be seen in the logos of National Paralympic Committees and future organising committees of Paralympic Games. However, due to the limited time before the ATHENS 2004 Paralympic Games, ATHENS 2004 and participating delegations will continue using the three tae-geuks, which have stood for the mind, body and spirit of Paralympic athletes and the long way the IPC has come in the first 14 years of its existence.

From International Paralympic Committee.
Reported by: Daniel De Boni, October 16, 2004.


[The IPC flag adopted in 2004 - vertical hanging version.] image by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán,
based on International Paralympic Committee Standards Manual.


Construction sheets of IPC flag adopted in 2004

[Construciton sheet of the IPC flag.] image by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán and Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 03 June 2014
based on International Paralympic Committee Standards Manual.


[Construciton sheet of the IPC vertical hanging flag.] image by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán,
based on International Paralympic Committee Standards Manual.


Construction sheet of current IPC flag first seen in 2012

[Construciton sheet of the IPC flag.] image by Juan Manuel Gabino Villascán, modified by Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 03 June 2014


History of the Paralympics

On 28 July 1948, the Opening Day of the London Olympic Games, in Stoke Mandeville, England, a sport competition was held for World War II veterans with a spinal cord injury. Four years later an international movement was born, as competitors from Holland joined these games.
The first Olympic style Games for athletes with disabilities were held in Rome in 1960, in the same venues as the Rome Olympics. The games in Tokyo in 1964 appear to have been the first Paralympic game usinga special flag and logo, though not the flag the IPC uses today. In 1976 Örnsköldsvik, Sweden was the host of the first Paralympic Winter Games, and both at these Games and the Games in Toronto that same year, other disability groups took part, giving rise to the idea of merging together different disability groups for international sport competitions. Since Seoul 1988, the Paralympic Games always take place at the same venues as the Olympic Games.
In 1982, the CP-ISRA, IBSA, ISMGF and ISOD created the “International Co-ordinating Committee Sports for Disabled in the World” (ICC). CISS and INAS-FMH joined in 1986, but the deaf still maintained their own organization. In 1989 was founded a new, democratically organized institution, the IPC. The IPC is the international representative organization of elite sports for athletes with disabilities. IPC organizes, supervises and co-ordinates the Paralympic Games and other multi-disability competitions on elite sports level, of which the most important are world and regional championships. Number of affiliated national federations: 160 and 5 disability specific international sports federation (CPISRA, IBSA, INAS-FID, ISMWSF and ISOD).However, it was soon felt that the ICC should be replaced by a more democratic organisation, which led in 1989 to the formation of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

Jan Oskar Engene, 13 June 1998, Esteban Rivera, 22 January 2021; and
Website of the International Paralympics Committee