At an event held at Salt Lake City International Airport late last month, Olympic organizers revealed a new name and transitional logo for the 2034 Winter Games, which no longer reflect the city’s name but encompass the entire state.
“The 2034 Winter Olympics are going to unify the world, but they’re also going to unify our state,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said. “The focus isn’t on just 100 countries that are going to be coming here, the focus is also on those 29 counties all across the state. This isn’t just the Salt Lake Olympics, it’s not just the Wasatch Front Olympics, this is our Olympics. It is all of us together.”
The logo is a stylized “Utah 2034” wordmark that draws inspiration from some of the state’s most recognizable landmarks, including the “A” being shaped like Delicate Arch near Moab, the “3” representing Lake Powell’s Reflection Canyon and the “4” mimicking the bend on a mountain road.
The curvature of the “0” is influenced by the ancient Native American petroglyphs and pictographs – or rock carvings and paintings – found on canyon walls throughout the state, while the overall arrangement of the letters imitates the grid street system used by most cities and towns.
“The Utah 2034 wordmark tells the story of the state of Utah and the athletes who will compete in 2034,” committee vice chair Steve Starks said. “The unique characters of Utah 2034 are embodied in it with shapes and angles reminiscent of the landforms of the American West, as well as those of athletes in action.”
The name, meanwhile, is an intentional separation from the first time the state hosted, when it was referred to as the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, as the games will take place at 13 venues in five different counties while several cultural events are also planned across the state.
Salt Lake City will still be the epicenter of the games, though, as the opening and closing ceremonies and medal events in multiple sports will be held in the capital city, including hockey, curling, big air skiing and snowboarding, among others.
“Utah 2034 represents more than an Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games,” Cox said. “Utah 2034 represents the future that everyone in this state is building together. It’s a statement about who we are as a state and also about who we intend to be.”
The transitional logo will be the event’s primary branding until 2029, when a finalized logo will be revealed following the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Transitional logos are limited to typography, while the ofifical logo(s) will include iconic symbols like the five interlocking rings that date back to 1920.
The 2034 Winter Olympics will take place from Feb. 10-26. It will be the fifth Winter Games and 10th overall to be hosted by the United States, while Salt Lake City becomes the fifth city to host multiple Winter Games, joining St. Moritz (Switzerland), Lake Placid (United States), Innsbruck (Austria) and Cortina d’Ampezzo (Italy).
Photos courtesy of @utah2034 on X/Twitter.
