Fantabulous design: + made in China

The evolution of the Olympic Torch

The New York Times presents an interactive look.
(Roll over each one for more details on each year’s design.)

The Beijing torch has a strong Chinese flavor. The scroll design and the lucky clouds convey the idea of harmony.

The torch is 72 centimetres high, weighs 985 grams and is made of aluminium. Its curved surface is etched and anodized during production. A torch normally burns for around 15 minutes in still conditions, however these torches have been produced to withstand winds of up to 65 kilometres per hour and to stay alight in downpours of up to 50mm an hour. The flame is designed to be visible and able to be photographed in sunshine and brightly lit areas.
The fuel is environmentally friendly propane, and its aluminium body is completely recyclable.

The Torch Relay lantern
The inspiration for the lantern comes from the traditional Chinese palace lanterns. The silver luster of the lantern coupled with crystal-clear glass serve as a foil to the flame and communicates the Olympic flame's sanctity and purity.

The torch stand is used to display and support the torch, and its design borrows from the architectural styles of the Han and Tang dynasties. The base design of the torch stand shows "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 is inspired by a traditional cauldron from the Chinese Bronze Age. The cauldron shares with the torch and lantern the design element of the "lucky clouds."

The 56 "lucky clouds" hollowed out of the curved plate of the Olympic cauldron represent good wishes to the world from the 56 ethnic groups in China. The base of the cauldron has four legs with eight faces, symbolizing that the Beijing Olympic Games welcomes friends from all directions. The Olympic cauldron stands 130 centimeters high, symbolizing the 130-day duration of the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay. The cauldron plate is 29 centimeters deep, symbolizing the 29th Olympiad. The cauldron post is 112 centimeters tall, symbolizing the 112 years that have passed between the staging of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and the 2008 Olympic Games.

Graphic designers created "pictograms" (left) to represent different Olympic sports based on jingwen (right), the script found on 2,000-year-old bronze carvings.
(Photo credit: China Daily)

Mascot
The playful qualities of five little children who form an intimate circle of friends
Each of the Fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name – a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China.
Beibei is the Fish
Jingjing is the Panda
Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame
Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope
Nini is the Swallow.
When you put their names together – Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni – they say "Welcome to Beijing,” a warm invitation that reflects the mission of Fuwa as young ambassadors for the Olympic Games.

This China Airlines jet is refurbished with the symbolic figure of the phoenix.

The banners

The logo of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay owes much of its inspiration to the traditional concept of the "fire phoenix", and presents the image of two runners holding high the Olympic Flame.
As ancient Chinese legend has it, the phoenix is the king of all birds, and symbolizes good fortune, eternity, nobility and happiness. The use of the phoenix image in the torch relay logo conveys the idea that the relay will send the best wishes from the Beijing Olympic Games to people all over China and the rest of the world.