Models display the torch relay uniforms during a press
conference held in Beijing Olympic Media Center in Beijing, China, Jan. 16,
2008. - Xinhua
Beijing Olympics organizers yesterday unveiled the image and look of the
torch relay that are full of Chinese feature.
The design of the image and look of the torch relay includes five components
- the torch and collaterals; the torch relay uniforms; the convoy and chartered
aircraft; the backdrop; and the city look.
"Blue and red dominate the backdrops for the Beijing Olympic torch relay,
which adapt to the characteristics of different scenes, with the aim of
transmitting the excitement of the torch relay," Qu Yingpu, spokesman for the
Beijing Organizing Committee's Torch Relay Center, told reporters at the
unveiling ceremony.
The inspiration for the original design of the torch relay lantern comes from
the traditional lanterns used inside ancient Chinese palaces. The silver luster
of the lantern coupled with crystal-clear glass serves as a foil to the flame
and communicates the Olympic flame's sanctity and purity.
The torch stand's design borrows from the architectural styles of the Han and
Tang dynasties, with its base showcasing "lucky clouds" drifting away, as if
gently calling out to the torch.
The Beijing Olympic cauldron is based on the concept of a "round heaven and
square earth" and uses a typical cauldron in the Chinese Bronze Age as well as
the "lucky clouds" as its creative elements.
The 56 "lucky clouds" hollowed out of the curved plate of the Olympic
cauldron symbolize well wishes to the world from the 56 ethnic groups in China,
while the base of the cauldron has four legs with eight faces, symbolizing that
the Beijing Olympic Games welcomes friends from all directions across the world,
said Qu.
The Olympic cauldron stands 130 centimeters high, symbolizing the 130-day
duration of the torch relay. The cauldron plate is 29 centimeters deep,
symbolizing the 29th Olympiad. The cauldron post is 112 meters tall, symbolizing
the 112 years that have passed between the staging of the first modern Olympic
Games in 1896 and the 2008 Olympic Games.
The look of the convoy for the torch relay takes red and yellow as its basic
colors, echoing the colors of the sacred flame and the torch, creating an
exciting and dynamic visual effect and making the convoy a true mobile carrier
of the Olympic spirit and the concepts of the Beijing Olympics.
The convoy consists of 13 automobiles and six motorcycles. Except for the
police car and the ambulance, every other type of vehicle has a unique look but
shares integral components with the rest of the convoy.
The design of the chartered aircraft highlight the message of the Beijing
2008 Olympic torch relay and the slogan of "Light the Passion Share the Dream".
The uniforms for the Beijing Olympic torch relay include those for
torchbearers, escort runners and staff members. As required by the IOC, white
should be the basic color of the torchbearers' uniforms. The basic elements of
the escort runners' uniforms are similar to those of the torchbearers, but their
basic color is blue.