This new logo is released seven months after the previous logo was scrapped due to plagiarism allegations. The designer Kenjiro Sano came under fire for basing his logo on the logo of Theatre De Liege in Belgium. Sano’s design bore striking resemblance to the theatre’s logo; the logo is pretty much the same with the exception of red circle which denotes Japan’s rising sun. The organizers of Tokyo 2020 and designer Kenjiro Sano both denied the plagiarism claims however scrapped the logo after a lawsuit was filed by Olivier Debie, Designer of Theatre De Liege’s Logo. The officials however released a statement saying that they did not scrap the design because of the lawsuit but because its reputation was too damaged to be used.

Tokyo 2020 has been a target of many controversies and the logo controversy cropped up shortly after the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pulled the plug on the Olympic Stadium development plans abandoning Zada Hadid’s design due to the public outrage on its soaring costs.

Ryohei Miyata, Head of the Tokyo 2020 Emblem said “It has been a tough process but now we have a new emblem and we hope Japan will love it like-a-new born baby.”

The winning design was selected from four finalists that were shortlisted from 14600 submissions in a contest open to the public. Out of this sports logo design gallery of 14600 different logos, over a 1000 submissions were by Japanese school children. The winning design is “Harmonized Checkered Emblem”. The three different shaped rectangles in the design represent the cultures, nationalities and celebrates Unity in Diversity.

Asao Tokoro, the winning Tokyo-based designer said that my mind had gone blank when I found out that my design had been selected. He said, “I can’t be an athlete but I have felt a longing towards the Olympics since I was a child, and I thought I can be involved through design. I put a lot of time and effort into this design as though it was my own child”. Even though Asao’s design received criticism by people where some people referred to it as “Bland” and “Colorless”, we believe that it shows all the signs of an amazing sports logo design with corresponding Paralympics logo design as well.

Tokyo 2020 officials are very happy with the new logo saying it expressed refined elegance and sophistication that exemplifies Japan.

The CEO of Pixels Logo Design, An award winning full service digital agency, issued its official statement weighing in on the issue. He said, “There has been a trend that we’ve observed in Olympics Logo Designs throughout the years, the logo always represents the country the games are being held in which was something that was missing from the initial Sano design that later faced plagiarism charges. The winning design stems from Japanese heritage i.e. the traditional snake eye which makes it the perfect emblem for representing Tokyo 2020. A good and creative sports logo design is important when it comes to a historic sports event like Olympics”.