Istanbul 2020 Unveil Bid Logo

The Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, unveiled Istanbul’s logo for their bid for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.

The new logo, voted for by the people of Turkey, combines the flower of Istanbul, a tulip, with the world-famous skyline of Istanbul.

The Prime Minister said: “As a government, we are very involved in promoting and supporting the Istanbul 2020 bid. Turkey has the ambition, potential and infrastructure required to host the 2020 Games.”

The inspiration behind the new logo design comes from the bridge that Istanbul forms between Europe and Asia, with the bottom half of the flower representing Asia and the top half showing Europe.

If the 2020 bid was successful, it would be the first time a single Games is held across two continents.

Hasan Arat, leader of Istanbul 2020, said: “A vibrant and young nation, a bridge between Europe and Asia, a modern and spectacular setting steeped in history – these are the ideas we wanted the Istanbul 2020 Candidate City logo to represent and our people have not let us down with their vote.

“Our new logo has been chosen by Turkey’s young population to act as a symbol of inspiration for our Olympic dream”.

Istanbul 2020 says the logo combines a distinctive turquoise, the symbol of Turkish culture, with a brilliant orange to show the spectacular and exciting setting side of the city.