Lucky Chick Selected As Serbia’s London 2012 Olympic Mascot
Serbia will be celebrating its London 2012 Olympic centenary with the launch of a charming new team mascot. Award-winning Belgrade designer Ivan Aran secured the honour of creating the Serbian team’s national mascot in a public competition run by the Serbian Olympic Committee.
His winning design was Srećko (Lucky), a cute brown and white baby bird that will be seen in various sporting get-ups, including a waterpolo hat, judo robes and as a slightly punch-drunk boxer. The inspiration for this mascot was the griffon vulture, a protected species that is found mostly in Southern Serbia. It is not quite the more familiar Serbian eagle – but close enough.
“These birds are native to Serbia and they are high flyers, which is a very important association for us,’ said Professor Branislav Jevtić, Sports Director of the Serbian Olympic Committee.
“If you want to be a successful athlete you have to dream sky high, to allow yourself to look down, to see all around you. It is also good to connect with ecology, to talk about how we need to nurture and protect this bird. It means that we are strong because the vulture is strong and free. Srećko has a lot of symbolic importance. The mascot looks a little bit like a chicken but it will grow to be an eagle one day.”
Ivan Aran (born Ivan Arandjelović), is quick to share his inspiration for the mascot. “Two things inspired me to use Griffon Vulture for the design on the first ever mascot of the Serbian Olympic team,’ said Ivan. “The Griffon Vulture is under legal protection from hunting in Serbia and right now they are living in a special nature reserve. There is a possibility of the extinction of these species, and I wanted to use my design to raise awareness about that.
“The second inspiration came from the Olympic team itself. I see our athletes as strong, always willing to give their best fight, fast and powerful, just as I see this bird. The mascot that I designed is good-natured, but determined to win, just as our athletes are. I wish them all the best and can’t wait to celebrate their victories.”
Ivan Aran, whose extensive experience gave birth to Srećko, is founder and creative director of Belgrade’s ivan_aran design studio, which boasts an impressive list of global and local brands. During the 2008 Serbian presidential campaign Ivan worked for Boris Tadić as Senior Art Director and Creative Associate. His work is regularly exhibited worldwide. Recently, Ivan designed a landmark to adorn the new US Embassy in Belgrade.
The London 2012 Olympics will be only the third summer games at which athletes have competed as Serbia. The athletic gathering comes one hundred years since Serbia’s first Olympic appearance in Stockholm in 1912. In 2008, they returned to the Olympic stage as Serbia, following UN sanctions that prevented them from entering under that name and after their split with Montenegro.
It is believed that Serbia’s tennis hero Novak Djoković will be the proud flag bearer to lead the national team into the London Olympic stadium next summer. It is unclear whether Srećko will make an appearance…
8 / 22 / 2011 9:57 pm
Srecko is adorable!
8 / 29 / 2011 7:38 pm
A great story about our mascot. Thank you