The long-awaited emblem for the 2008 Olympic Games was unveiled at an elaborate ceremony in Beijing last night.
The emblem was brought to the Temple of Heaven under police escort with Olympic ambassadors - table tennis champion Deng Yaping and Hong Kong movie star Jackie Chan - delivering it to the ceremony.
At first glance it appears to be a stick-like running figure. The logo is shaped like the Chinese character 'jing', meaning 'Beijing', and resembles a traditional Chinese seal on a red background with the character in white.
The words 'Beijing 2008' appear in Chinese calligraphy, with the five Olympic rings placed below the figure.
The unveiling of the logo represents the beginning of the official countdown to the 2008 Games.
The design was leaked about two months ago and appeared on several American and Canadian-based websites.
The leak is believed to have occurred in the United States, where the logo was registered as a trademark on June 5, after its original release date of March 25 was postponed due to the Sars outbreak. But the glitch did nothing to diminish the pomp and ceremony of last night's ceremony.