Beijing unveils Olympic symbols for 2008 Games

The Beijing Olympic Games organization committee released a set of symbols representing each of the sports for the 2008 Games on Monday, one day before its two-year countdown to the opening ceremonies.

The release ceremony is one of a set of celebrations held by the organization committee to mark the two-year countdown to the Games.

Olympic pictographs, which were first seen at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, are used as the official marks for the broadcasting, advertising and marketing of the Games.

The pictographs for the 2008 Beijing Olympics include 35 icons, representing each of the sports in the 2008 summer Games.

The designs, named 'the Beauty of the Seal' are based on the strokes used for seals, which were widely used in inscriptions on bones and bronze vessels in ancient China some 3,000 years ago.

Four design institutes were asked to submit designs for the pictographs by the organization committee in March of 2005. 'The Beauty of the Seal', by the China Central Academy of Fine Arts, finally won out.