2012 Olympics logo accused of racism

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As if it hadn’t received enough criticism already, the 2012 London Olympics logo design is now being accused of being racist by the national Olympic committee of the Islamic republic.

Quotes from the letter to the International Olympic Committee by the national Olympic committee of the Islamic republic representative Mohammad Aliabadi include:

Unfortunately, we all are witnessing that the upcoming Olympics … faces a serious challenge, definitely spawned out of some people’s racist spirit

The use of the word Zion by the designer of the Olympics logo … in the emblem of the Olympics Games 2012 is a very revolting act

Zion refers to the Old City of Jerusalem in the Bible. In addition to this, the secretary general of Iran’s Olympic committee, Bahram Afsharzadeh has said:

Certainly other countries, including Islamic nations, will react to this racist logo and this would jeopardise the goals of the Olympic games in the world

He goes on to warn the IOC that:

negligence of the issue from your side might affect the presence of some countries, especially Iran

All this comes 3 years after the 2012 Olympics logo design was initially made public.

What do you think?

Obviously the logo design says “2012″, I don’t know if I’d have ever interpreted it as saying “Zion” and certainly I don’t see any undercurrent of racism. How about you?

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9 thoughtful comments on “2012 Olympics logo accused of racism”

1. Amar Sanghera says:

   March 1, 2011 at 11:40 pm

   I suspect whoever has said this may be a little high and may have seen a few too many conspiracy theory documentaries. I look forward to their future accusations.
2. Andrew Keir says:

   March 2, 2011 at 7:31 am

   Amar,

   It’s bizarre that this came up so long after the logo was made public. Some people just aren’t happy unless they’re complaining about something I guess.
3. Margaret Yang says:

   March 4, 2011 at 7:31 pm

   Seriously. Just like you said, “as if it hadn’t received enough criticism already…” This logo has been through enough already. Next thing you know it’s bringing chaos to people’s lives because of the friction in the design.
4. Andrew Keir says:

   March 5, 2011 at 8:23 am

   Margaret,

   “2012 Olympics logo design blamed for global warming” perhaps? You never know.
5. Burn says:

   March 5, 2011 at 8:56 pm

   You’re all on their side! It is clearly a swastika rearranged!
6. Andrew Keir says:

   March 5, 2011 at 10:38 pm

   Burn,

   Lets just hope they don’t come out with a black and maroon version of the logo.
7. Vagabond says:

   June 10, 2011 at 1:14 am

   If everyone would start making random associations, every logo would be offending.
8. Ellie Kenon says:

   August 10, 2011 at 7:13 pm

   To think this says zion you would first need to unlearn how to spell zion. It’s ugly for sure, but racist? Get real.
9. Sal Maz says:

   June 3, 2012 at 11:26 am

   I’m just laughing so hard I don’t know what to say!