POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Sydney Olympic Games banner

Object No. 2001/84/579

This vertical banner was designed by the Look of the Games Committee to decorate one of the indoor venues for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. It was made by the Sydney company, Selby's Pty Ltd, by screen-printing the design onto polyester fabric. In a four-year project, Selby's made most of the flags and banners for the Games, including street banners, torch relay banners, banners for licensees and test events and standard and over-sized flags. Its design combines elements of the Sydney 2000 branding package, including the colours, Sydney yellow and Sydney orange, and the motif, 'Fluid Energy' that symbolised the Olympic rings reflected in Sydney Harbour. Thousands of banners decorated Olympic venues and the city of Sydney during the Games, serving to unify public areas through a distinct visual theme. Their graphic designs, combining specific colours, motifs, grounds and logos, came from the Sydney 2000 branding package that symbolised the "energy and anticipation of the new millennium". Conveying a sense of youth, energy and optimism, the Sydney 2000 branding package, or 'kit of parts', unified and enlivened all visual components of the Sydney Olympic Games. Developed in 1998 by the Look of the Games Committee, the kit was applied to all three dimensional objects that propped the Olympic venues, including signage, temporary architecture, fence fabric, banners and banner poles, press backdrops, the 'kiss and cry' area for gymnasts and sports equipment. The kit contained both major and minor branding elements, including the Sydney 2000 trademark, the 'Fluid Energy' motif, a colour palette, typography, mascots, vignettes and pictograms. Individually, these elements referenced Australian culture and landscapes, and branded the Olympic Games with a uniquely Australian theme. Collaborating with local councils, the Look of the Games Committee ensured that all civic ornamentation complied with this theme. It designed a range of official civic banners, which it sold to councils through a book and ordering form, 'Local Councils Look Catalogue - Look of the Games'. Similarly, it negotiated with the 'Look of the City of Sydney' that, led by Government Architect, Chris Johnson, decorated the Sydney cityscape for the Games.