London 2012 Is Ugly, But It's Not the Worst Olympic Logo

AOL Sports is compiling a list of the worst uniforms ever, and, because they're our friends and the subject matter lends itself to hilarity, we thought we'd join in the fun. So here's our look at the worst logos in Olympic history.

The official logo for the 2012 London Olympics was unveiled yesterday, and British artists think it's hideous. In MJD's Debriefing he wrote, "I'm not saying I don't like it ... I just don't completely understand what it's supposed to make me feel." And that's just about the most positive thing anyone has had to say.

But the 2012 London Olympic logo isn't even close to the worst symbol in Olympic history. Here are the five worst logos or mascots in the history of the Olympics:

1. 1960 Rome: Reading that Romulus and Remus were nursed by a wolf is interesting. Seeing it is disgusting.

2. 1988 Seoul: Staring intently at that swirl can cause vertigo.

3. Whatizit, 1996 Atlanta: A weird blue creature sure to scare small children.

4. Waldi the Dachsund, 1972 Munich: The ugliest dog I've ever seen.

5. Tokyo, 1964: Would it have killed them to try to be a little creative?

I'm a Chicagoan, and if our fair city wins the 2016 Olympics, I nominate Miss Gossip to design the logo.

(Photo credit: Getty Images)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

6-05-2007 @ 2:14PM

nick hronis said...

Who says the Roma and Tokyo logo are the worst? What pipe are you smoking from? The Roma logo was designed by Armando Testa, a brilliant italian designer whose bold graphic posters are some of the most sought after posters from the 1960s for collectors (the image in the article is not Testa's original, and is a bad knock-off, the original is very cool). The 1964 Tokyo logo was designed by Yusaku Kamekura, Japan's top graphic designer at the time who also designed the 1972 Olympic Winter Games Sapporo logo. His posters for both games are stunning and equally collectible. These 2 logos and the graphics designed for the games are considered some of the best. The new London logo is shockingly horrible. Did they focus group or test it on any body? They say they want to reach out to young people with the logo, but bad design decisions isn't a good way to start.......

6-05-2007 @ 3:38PM

Matt said...

HUH??? I didn't know what it was until I read the article. Who cares if it's some great graphic designer... it SUX

6-05-2007 @ 3:47PM

John said...

London 2012 Is Ugly, And It *IS* the Worst Olympic Logo!

Artwork from 47 years ago puts it to shame.

6-05-2007 @ 6:51PM

Jeremy said...

Gaaaah.

I had a go. What do you think?

http://www.parsonses.co.uk/2012OlyJDAP-01.html

6-07-2007 @ 11:37AM

Mark said...

It's not the worst Olympic logo Ive seen, but if they wanted to reach the young people they should ask young people to design the logo maybe in a form of a school competion.

6-06-2007 @ 9:35AM

andrew said...

you think Seoul's 1988 logo gives you vertigo? check out Mexico City 1968 and then update your article ;)

also, technically, Whatizit and Waldi are mascots, not logos. as a native atlanta, though, i must admit that izzy is totally lame.

6-06-2007 @ 9:38AM

ok, so to my own point, i was actually looking at the POSTER for the mexico city olympics, but i should be allowed some leeway because you included mascots! =)

link to the offensive piece:
http://www.mapsofworld.com/olympic-trivia/images/olympic-posters/mexico1968.jpg

6-06-2007 @ 10:10AM

Brad M. said...

I think the designer of the Rome logo could be arrested for indecency and bestiality.

6-06-2007 @ 6:05PM

Say what you will about the logos for the Rome, Tokyo, and Seoul Olympics, they were at least were culturally relevant to the host city/country:

1. Rome - The logo for is based on a famous statue representing the mythological founders of the city of Rome.

2. Tokyo - The logo is obviously based on the Japanese flag, symbolic of the rising sun.

3. Seoul - The logo incorporates the Korean cultural symbol Sam-Taeguk, which represents the intersection of man, heaven, and earth. (It's a variation on the symbol for Yin and Yang: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taeguk)

6-07-2007 @ 9:50AM

GP said...

It really is the worse logo I have ever seen. I seriously thought it was a joke. It means nothing. It looks like vomit. The london typeface is butt-ugly. Someone must have been smoking some bad weed when designing this.

6-07-2007 @ 1:16PM

carter said...

the london logo is for 2012, so maybe by 2012 people will like that sort of graphics, whats the big fuss?
the olympics is in another4 years, so in four years the logo could be the best ever!

6-08-2007 @ 3:13PM

Brendan said...

Yes, this is by far the worst Olympic logo I've ever seen. And Izzy the Teenage Whatsit (why did that genderless blue blob have to be a teenager, anyway?) from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics was by far the worst Olympic mascot that I've ever seen. Let's hope that the good folks in London choose a better mascot, at least.

6-26-2007 @ 6:21PM

Swarovski crystals said...

I agree the logo is very disappointing but before anyone goes pointing the finger at the designers, shouldn’t we look at what the design brief was they were working to?