Chicago Games Inc.

Board  Committees  Staff  Logo  Make a Donation

Need an electronic copy of our logo? Click any version of the logo to view a higher resolution version. After reviewing our Acceptable Use Guidelines, right click on the higher resolution version and save to your computer.

Playful, vibrant, athletic, uniquely “Chicago,” and just plain “cool.” These are just a few of the words used to describe the Gay Games VII logo. For the first time ever, a Gay Games logo incorporates sports figures into its design, breaking with a tradition of torches, cityscapes and LGBT symbols. In another first for the Gay Games, the two figures have names - "Pride" (the female figure) and "Spirit" (the male figure) - named such in a worldwide naming contest. Congratulations to the winner of the naming contest - Jim Nolan of Miami Beach, FL.

Chicago Artist
The new Gay Games VII logo was created by Chicago artist David Lee Csicsko (pronounced “Sis-Ko”). Csicsko has rapidly gained a significant following for his highly colorful and stylized representations of the human form. Many Chicagoans will recognize his work from murals that appear at the Belmont station on the Chicago Subway “Red Line” in the heart of Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood, a heavily gay neighborhood sometimes called “Boystown.” He is also the creator of a series of posters for Northalsted Market Days, a 300,000-person street festival that takes place in Lakeview each August. His artwork appears in print and other media throughout the Midwestern U.S. and he has received widespread critical acclaim from the art world. Csicsko has already been hard at working developing a series of sports and culture-specific icons, posters and designs for collectibles and wearables for the 2006 Sports and Cultural Festival.

Logo and Chicago History
This logo also has several elements that brand it unique to Chicago. The waves at the bottom are meant to evoke Chicago’s stunning lakefront. The lakefront’s parks, marinas and harbors will be the site of several of the sports competitions during Gay Games VII. The four red stars on the logo are drawn from the City of Chicago flag. Each star represents a major event in Chicago’s history - the building of Fort Dearborn at the mouth of the Chicago River in 1803, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893, and the Century of Progress, a star added in 1933. Each star has 6 points, and each point (all 24) represents a value or characteristic of Chicago. The points on the 3rd star, for example, represent the international history of Chicago and Illinois, first as a territory of France, then Great Britain before becoming part of the United States in 1778 and, finally, Illinois’ statehood in 1818.

Using the Logo
Over the next two years, the logo will appear in many places and in many forms (like the special edition Aquatics t-shirts we produced for the IGLA 2004 Championships - see left). This is great and we encourage its widespread use.

Acceptable Use Document
Of course, since the image is copyrighted by Chicago Games, Inc., the use comes with some guidelines that must be met for legal use. We have listed the Acceptable Use Guidelines in this PDF available for download.

Please note: The Gay Games VII logo may not be used for any commercial or fundraising purposes whatsoever without express permission by Chicago Games, Inc. Vendors interested in obtaining a license to use the Gay Games VII logo for merchandise or other commercial purposes should contact GGVII at info@gaygameschicago.org or at (773) 907-2006 for further information.

Color Matching
For the green/blue version below, use the following PMS colors:

Click on any logo to download print version.