Drawing Board makes friends

Organising committee Manchester 2000 has unveiled the official emblem for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, created by local group Drawing Board.

The Spirit of Friendship logo has three elements: sport, culture and friendship. Each one is expressed by three figures holding hands. Sport is depicted by winning athletes, culture has artistic figures and friendship shows celebrating figures (shown right).

The design of joined hands in the logo forges the letter M for Manchester, plus a crown effect as a reference to the Golden Jubilee in 2002.

The colours are also significant. Drawing Board creative director Tony Owen says red represents performance and success, blue represents family and reliability, and green is for earth, balance and nature. The inclusion of black and yellow symbolises the five continents in which the Commonwealth nations are located.

mManchester has been awarded 90m to build a stadium for the Commonwealth Games in 2002 by the National Lottery and Manchester city council. The stand is being designed by Arup Associates and Lobb Sports Architects.