The Tokyo Olympics 2020 is up and running right now. Contingents from across the globe made it to Japan, accepting the risk of participating in the quadrennial showpiece despite an ongoing pandemic.

The COVID-19 crisis forced Olympic officials to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to 2021. But we can safely say that it was worth the wait.

The opening ceremony for this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo was always going to be an exciting affair. We expected some unusual quips due to the coronavirus restrictions. There were no fans in the stadium but viewers at home encountered a delightful surprise – The pictograms.

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The science behind the Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony pictograms

As per the official Olympics website, pictograms were first introduced at the 1964 Tokyo Games. They were meant to serve as a universal language for viewers across the globe, irrespective of caste, creed, colour, religion or nationality. In fact, the logos used during the 94′ games are now the universally accepted symbols to distinguish between gendered toilets.

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Designers for the ’64 Games helped revolutionize the idea of pictograms by creating symbols that could be used non-verbally without confusion. It was only fair to pay homage to the Olympic pictograms this year. The completion of a full circle.

Twitter and other social media platforms were flooded with pictogram-related posts and comments. Viewers at home certainly enjoyed this out-of-the-box skit which also helped lighten the mood inside the stadium while the opening ceremony was going on.

The ‘pictogram sequence’ where performers were acting out shapes was definitely one of the highlights of the evening. However, Japanese-American tennis superstar, Naomi Osaka, lighting the Olympic flame was the standout moment of this year’s opening ceremony. Now hopefully she can channelize that energy during her upcoming matches.

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