Organizers of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games are calling for a new Olympic theme Slogan that will help present the exciting image of the Beijing Games to an expecting global audience.

The announcement was made by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) today at a press conference held in the Beijing Olympic Media Center.

According to Madame Zhang Ming, Deputy Director of BOCOG's Culture and Ceremonies Department, the theme Slogan should be easy to read and remember, and can be understood and shared by people from different cultures. The theme Slogan, in both Chinese and English, should be emotional and inspiring, and can be presented with strong visual effects.

Submissions can be mailed to BOCOG's Culture and Ceremonies Department, or sent via email to wenhua@beijing-olympic.org.cn.org.cn by the deadline of January 31, 2005. More information is available at BOCOG website www.beijing2008.com. BOCOG will unveil the new theme Slogan  in the first half of 2005, when a series of promotional campaigns are also planned.

Games organizers have increasingly used Olympic themes Slogan as an important platform to launch their communications campaigns. Themes from past Games, such as "Share the Spirit" of the 2000 Sydney Games, and "Light the Fire within" of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games, have caught people's imagination and inspired millions around the world. "Welcome Home" also became a highlight during the Athens Games this summer and was a source of boundless pride for the Greeks.

The theme Slogan Beijing used during its bid campaign was "New Beijing, Great Olympics." It has successfully helped the world to recognize that Beijing, a city with a history of more than 3,000 years and at the heart of China's splendid culture, is also one of the fastest modernizing cities in the world. The new theme Slogan that BOCOG is looking for will shift the focus from the city itself to the three concepts of 2008 Games (namely, Green Olympics, High-tech Olympics and People's Olympics) and the universal values of the Olympic Movement, such as peace, unity, friendship, participation, inspiration, dedication, joy and fair play.

(BOCOG December 27, 2004)