If you’ve ever played “Where’s Charlie?” I love the official poster for the Paris 2024 Games. Revealed to the public on Monday, March 4, the performance by artist Ugo Gattoni first aroused controversy. A few hours after his presentation, several right-wing and far-right politicians complained. about the absence of tricolor flags and the Christian cross on the dome of the Invalides. The controversy was dismissed by the creation committee, which recalled that “the official posters are a cheerful and light-hearted interpretation of a reinvented stadium city”.
But the missing cross is not the only detail hidden in this drawing, condensed into symbols referring to France or the values of the Games. Will you be able to see them all?
If the poster highlights the capital, Marseille is not far behind. The marina is reproduced almost identically by the illustrator and will host sailing competitions and Olympic competitions. Not far from the latter, you can see the Belem, the imposing three-masted ship built at the end of the 19th century that will carry the Olympic flame from Athens to the Old Port. A journey of about ten days for an arrival with great pomp scheduled for May 8.
In the illustration, off the coast of the marina, many surfers wait for the Teahupo’o wave in Tahiti. A wave passed near the Patrouille de France. But the Olympic symbol lurks in this rough sea. In the drawing, a giant bottle turns out to float, none other than the Olympic torch, made by the designer Mathieu Lehanneur.
Among them are the Parisian monuments, some of which will host sporting events, such as the Grand Palos Angelesis. Its roof is thus transformed into a court for wheelchair fencers. In the center of the poster, the Eiffel Tower surrounds the Stade de France. This is crowned by dozens of skaters and breakdancers performing angelic shows. The Haussmannian buildings, the Trocadero, the Obelisk of the Angels, the Concorde and the Arc de Triomphe also pay homage to the capital.
The roof of the latter has also been remodelled for the occasion and turned into a tennis court for wheelchairs, while the Seine houses the playing field for rowers, rowers and polo players. Also hidden at the back of the sign are more discreet monuments, such as the Wallace Fountains. .
To the illustration has also been added the motto of the Olympic Games in Latin: “Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communiter” or “Faster, higher, more powerful – together”. But you have to tilt your head to see it, as it’s inscribed on a trampoline on the back of the poster. In the most sensitive part on the right, the artist has drawn Stoke Mandeville, an English city that was the first to host the Paralympic Games in 1948.
Finally, several Olympic and Paralympic mascots, the “Phryges”, are depicted in the illustration. While some are imposing and easy to spot, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower or on the heights of the Trocadero, this is the case for all of them. Other symbols can be discovered on the Paris 2024 website, which gives you the opportunity to walk through the posters in detail.
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