The logo and slogan for the Euro 2012 football championships, which Ukraine is co-hosting with Poland, was unveiled in a special ceremony in Kiev attended by UEFA president Michel Platini.
Ukrainian Football Union (FFU) head Grigoriy Surkis and Grzegorz Lato, President of the Polish Football Association (PZPN) presented the logo and slogan.
Ukraine President Victor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Andriy Shevchenko were also on hand for the unveiling of the logo, which will now go on a tour of the eight host cities — Gdansk, Warsaw, Poznan, Wroclaw, Lviv, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Kiev.
The 2012 logo is derived from wycinanka , the traditional art of paper cutting practised in rural areas of Poland and Ukraine, said UEFA, with “a flower representing each of the co-host nations and a central ball symbolising the emotion and passion” of the competition.
I think that the vivid colours of the logo are a perfect fit with the image that Poland and Ukraine want to give to the world,” said Platini.
The symbolism of a plant that grows is fully in line with the aspirations of the two host countries, and I am sure that we will be creating history together, with the staging of the UEFA European Football Championship in Central and East Europe for the first time.” The slogan for the event is “creating history together”.
