September 4, 1981, Los Angeles began it’s year-long Bicentennial celebrations. This would include sports events and tie-ins, a time-capsule and plaque dedication. It would also be considered a rehearsal for the upcoming Olympic Games, that would take place three years after the Bicentennial in 1984.
Helming the festivities was the Los Angeles 200 Committee. This was made up of 44 community leaders, civic figures and businesspeople, led by Jane Pisano, a professor at USC.
To bring the activities and events together, and create merchandising opportunities an event symbol was commissioned, with local designer John Follis landing the job. This would be supported by the logan L.A.’s the pLAce.
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When a group of 44 settlers founded the town on September 4, 1781, they named it El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles, The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels. This was in honour of the Catholic Virgin Mary, also referred to as the Queen of Angels, and led to the nickname The City of Angels.
Follis’ design reflects this, depicting a winged figure: a stylised angel, combined with a rainbow above. This intended to symbolise the City of the Angels and its cultural diversity. Two versions were created to maximise the merchandising opportunities, one for use on white and another on black.
The logo and the slogan were applied to commemorative items and collectables, used in promotional materials across the city, and the Los Angeles Dodgers wore the logo on the sleeves of their uniforms for the 1981 Major League Baseball season.
Want more in-depth articles? Check out the Logo Histories for Stuart Ash’s Canadian Centennial symbol and Bruce Blackburn’s symbol for the American Revolution Bicentennial.
Canadian Centennial, 1965
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By issuing the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain. By the 1900s, there were 48 and then 50 by 1976 as Alaska and Hawaii became states in 1958 and 1959, respectively.
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