The Paris Torch Relay: 4 Design Choices You Can Borrow 🔥

The 2024 Olympic torch is symmetrical top-to-bottom — a first in 100 years of Olympic torch design. Symmetry is the kind of small, deliberate choice that elevates any ceremonial object.

Symmetry Reads as Care

Mathieu Lehanneur's design lets the torch sit identically either way up — no wrong side. For your next ceremonial trophy or medal, ask the designer to consider symmetry on both axes. Even small adjustments (e.g., balancing the engraving plate on the back as carefully as the logo on the front) communicate that no shortcut was taken.

Wave Texture Tells the Seine Story

The torch body carries a delicate rippled texture meant to evoke the Seine — the river that hosts the opening ceremony for the first time in history. That kind of local-detail texture is achievable at any scale: laser-engrave a subtle motif (skyline, river, mountain silhouette) onto the back of your tournament medals. The recipient discovers it later, and that discovery is the real gift.