Faster, Higher, Stronger, Less Torchy

By Rachelle Bowden in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 19, 2007 9:00PM

Back in May, the International Olympic Committee laid the smack down on Chicago 2016 for illegal use of the torch symbol. (All Olympic imagery is reserved for official Olympic business. Chicago's still just an "applicant city.") Anyway, the suspense is over! The new logo is here, and boy, is it ... meh.

According to this so-earnest-it-hurts explanation, the logo is "a great symbol of hope for our city and our nation," and the six points represent hope, respect, harmony, friendship, excellence, and celebration. No point for corruption? What gives? The six-pointed star is of course a shout-out to the Chicago flag's six-pointers; less obvious is the fact that the "bands of color" (translation: stripes?) represent "the dynamic architecture of our city and the beautiful character of our parks and lakes — but they also symbolize our desire to reach out to the world and offer many paths to the Games." Reds and yellows = skyline, blues and greens = lake and parks.

OK, go monkeynuts: What say you about this logo?