Pan American Games - Symbols

Symbols

The Pan American Games Movement uses symbols to represent the ideals embodied in the Pan American Games charter. The Pan American Sports Organization Flag consists of the PASO logo on a white field. The logo (which was adopted in 1954) consists of five concentric circles of yellow, green, white, red, and blue (from the center) around a light blue disc. A blazing torch is superimposed on the rings and disc. The colors of the rings can be found on all the flags PASO member nations. The games motto "América, Espírito, Sport, Fraternité" is written in black in a circle around the outer edge of the center disc. The motto means "The American Spirit of Friendship Through Sports" the words appear in the 4 languages spoken in the Americas: Spanish, French, Portuguese and English. The Olympic Rings were superimposed on the torch by PASO in October 1998 to symbolize its close link with the Olympic Movement. The name of the organization, in English and Spanish appears in black letters along the bottom of the flag. The flag has been hoisted during each celebration of the Games. The flag was hoisted while the Olympic Hymn was played until the 2007 Games. In 2011 Games, the new anthem has been played for the first time. The anthem itself composed in 2008.

Months before each Games, the Pan American Games flame is lit in a similar way as the Olympic flame. In the first games in Buenos Aires in 1951, the torch came from Olympia, Greece. However, since the 1955 Pan American Games, the torch is lit by Aztec people in old temples, first in the Sierra de la Estrella and after in the Temple of the Sun God in the Teotihuacán Pyramids. The only exception was for the São Paulo games in 1963, when the torch was lit in Brasilia by the indigenous Guarani people. An Aztec then lights the torch of the first relay bearer, thus initiating the Pan American Games torch relay that will carry the flame to the host city's main stadium, where it plays an important role in the opening ceremony. The flame is required to be held during the games in the stadium which will host the athletics competition. If the Opening ceremony and athletics competition will be held in different stadiums, the flame will be required to move there.

The Pan American Games mascot, an animal or human figure representing the cultural heritage of the host country, was introduced in 1979 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It has played an important part on the Games identity and promotion. The mascots of the most recent Pan American Games, in Guadalajara, was Huchi, Leo, and Gavo representing local figures in Guadalajara.