20 November 2022

Sports & Headwear. The message of iconic headwear inspired the design of the mascots of the Olympic Games Paris 2024

One of the internationally best known symbols for freedom inspired the design of the mascots, the 'Phryges', for the next Summer Olympics 2024 in Paris. The Phryhian cap is strongly associated with the French Revolution (1789 - 1799). The revolution's motto 'liberté, égalité, fraternité' was taken over to the 1st Article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris in 1948.

At paris2024.org/en/mascots/, the mascots appear as a duo representing the Olympic Games (26 July until 11 August) and the Paralympic Games (28 August and 8 September). The Phryghes are presented with introduction to the history of the cap and the character of the mascots such as the Paralympic Phryge who is described as fearless and as fast as an antelope with her running prosthetic. She competes in various sports - with a partner, alone or in a team, and loves "...partying to celebrate victories or get over defeats." In the next two years, the Phryghes are on a mission, a revolution through sports. People are called to become active in sports and join literally the 'movement' for improving health, the relationship to others and the relation to nature.

Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet said on occasion of the launch in mid-November 2022: "We wanted mascots that would embody our vision and be able to share it with the French people and the world. Rather than an animal, our mascots represent an ideal. The Phrygian cap is a symbol of liberty. Since it is familiar to us and appears on our stamps and the pediments of our town halls, it also represents French identity and spirit."

Image: The design of the mascots of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, the Olympic Phryge and the Paralympic Phryge, is developed from Phrygian caps. © Paris 2024.