The Emblem

The Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games Emblem was created by the Studio Husmann-Benincasa (winner of the competition for the realisation of the Olympic Emblem) and has strong similarities to the Winter Olympic Emblem and to the Paralympic Symbol. The Paralympic Winter Games Emblem has kept the same style and abstract quality of the Olympic logo, and provides various levels of interpretation. "As with the logo of Torino 2006, the Paralympic emblem conveys important meanings," affirmed Valentino Castellani, TOROC President, "because, as is the case for the Olympics, the Paralympics represent values of solidarity, friendship among peoples, courage and loyal competition. What I see and what I like to see in this logo is the image of three persons holding hands, three persons supporting one another and creating a bond of solidarity." The three graphic elements forming the emblem recall a human figure and the three agitos of the IPC Symbol. The colours chosen for the emblem - red, green and blue - re-interpret the colours of the IPC Symbol in a Torino perspective: blue is the colour of the Italian sports world-wide as well as the colour of snow and ice; green symbolizes the natural elements of Italian landscape; red is the colour of passion, the value which best expresses the vitality and enthusiasm of Paralympic athletes.

The Mascot

Aster, the Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games macot, was created with the aim of symbolizing the Paralympic Winter Games of Torino 2006: it represents the spirit of this initiative, extolling the athletic results of participants rather than focusing on their disabilities. Aster takes on the shape, colour, structure and nimbleness of a snowflake. Happy, agile and dynamic, thanks to its particular form, it is capable of assuming all positions specified by the Paralympic disciplines, thus being representative of all athletes in an entertaining, positive and natural fashion. A close friend of Neve and Gliz (the Olympic Winter Games mascots), Aster belongs to the same magical world of snow and ice.