Summer 2016

Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid has a new visual component, as officials unveiled a logo that features a torch with a flame representing the city’s skyline.

The orange flame, with a Sears Tower-like look, is meant to represent the city’s style of architecture while evoking “a city that rose from the ashes” in the wake of the Great Fire of 1871, according to a statement from the Chicago 2016 Committee, the local group leading the bid. The torch’s body is colored blue, in a nod to Lake Michigan, and green, to represent the city’s park system.

Even if the games don’t wind up here, the city hopes to reap a little cash from its Olympic bid. Merchandise featuring the logo will go on sale “soon,” the statement said.

The logo was created by VSA Partners Inc., a Chicago-based design studio.

Mayor Richard M. Daley and Patrick Ryan, chairman of the 2016 committee, presented the logo at a news conference last Thursday in Millennium Park.

Chicago is battling with Los Angeles and San Francisco to be the United States’ nominee to host the 2016 games. The U.S. Olympic Committee has not yet decided if it will nominate a host city.