The Mascots: Paris 2024 (English)
Throughout the course of history, one has seen the Phrygian hat on the head of former slaves of Rome but also on the heads of revolutionaries during the French Revolution. Although the Olympic Games certainly aren’t as important as the French Revolution or slavery, the Phrygian hats have made a new mark on history as the mascots for the 2024 Olympics Games in Paris.
While the dates for the 2024 Olympic Games approach, we have finally been able to obtain the first images of the official mascots: the “Phryges”. Announced by the committee of organization for the Olympic Games, the Phryges are living Phrygian hats who come with their own history. The Phryges of the Olympic Games aren’t those who were present during the Neolithic Revolution, nor those worn by students on Boulevard Saint-Germain in May, 1968, but the Phryges from a new generation that symbolize a revolution through sport.
In reality there are two mascots: the Olympic Phyrge and the Paralympic Phryge, each of which with their own personalities. Their goal is to showcase that sports can have a great importance, as confirmed by the Olympic committee assuring that “it is time to put more sport in our daily life.” For these official mascots, living is playing, at it’s necessary to do all that one can in order to live the sport.
The first of the two Phryges, the Olympic Phryge, is a reserved hat who loves to hide their emotions, but who also believes that she can motivate those around her in order to achieve revolution through sport. In comparing the Olympic Phryge against the Paralympic Phryge, we can find that the Paralympic Phryge has an entirely different personality. The Paralympic Phryge embodies the perfect spirit of a supporter of the Olympic Games. As a matter of fact, this Phryge is always at the search of new sport-related experiences. She notably shares a contagious version of her two primary emotions, energy and enthusiasm, that she uses in order to celebrate all athletes.
Due to its popularity and the historical recognition the Phrygian hats carry, the creative teams of Paris 2024 have hoped to pay homage to the hat symbolizing some of the most important moments in the history of France.
