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French National Olympic and Sports Committee

Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français - CNOSF

Last modified: 2024-10-19 by olivier touzeau
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[Flag]

Flag of the CNOSF - Image by Tomislav Šipek, 28 January 2018


See also:


Presentation of the CNOSF

The COF (Comité Olympique Français) was established in autumn 1894 in Paris, Baron Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937) serving as its President and Félix Faure (1841-1899), President of the Republic (1895-1899), as its Honorary President. The COF organized the participation of French athletes to the 1896 Summer Olympics (Athens) and prepared the 1900 Summer Olympics (Paris). Disbanded since no French athlete competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics (Saint-Louis), the COF was reformed on 27 January 1907 by French members of the IOC to prepare the 1908 Summer Olympics (London).
In 1901, the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques (athletics) and the Union Vélocipédique de France (cycling) proposed to establish a federations' central committee. Joined by the Fédération Française des Sociétés d'Aviron (rowing), Fthe édération des Sociétés Françaises de Boxe (boxing) and the Fédération Nationale d'Escrime (fencing), they established on 23 May 1908 the CNS (Comité National des Sports, syndicat des Fédérations Sportives); the Union des Sociétés Gymnastiques (gymnastic) and the Union des Sociétés de Tir de France (shooting) supported the new federation without joining it.

The COF was incorporated to the CNS in 1913; the two committees had the same social seat, board and president. In 1925, the COF was granted a specific board and president, but remained under the CNS' tutorship. The COF was in charge of the organization of the travel and housing of the French delegations at the Olympic Games, while the CNS was in charge of the management of the sports federations and their members.
Upon request of the IOC, the COF became a separate entity in 1952. To re-establish the unity of the French sports movement, a proposal of merging the two committees was aired in 1969; the CNOSF was established on 22 February 1972, after a modification of the Statutes of the CNS and the disbanding of the COF. As the legal successor of the CNS, the CNOSF was confirmed the State approval granted to the CNS in 1922.
[FranceOlympique]

Ivan Sache, 28 January 2018


Flag of the CNOSF

The flag of the CNOSF (photo) is white with the committee's emblem.

The "corporate institutional logotype" of the CNOSF is composed of three elements:
- the rooster;
- the Olympic rings;
- the name.
The legend "COMITÉ NATIONAL OLYMPIQUE ET SPORTIF FRANÇAIS" was composed using a typography specifically designed for the Committee ("franceolympique" bold).
The logotype is framed within a surface composed of 15 x 15 unit squares, used to control its construction and proportions and to check that is has not been modified, distorted and/or adapted.

The color specifications are given as follows.
The four-color version shall be used as much as possible, and mandatorily on printed supports, exclusively on a white background.

Navy blue   C 100    M  80    Y   0     K  66
Cyan blue   C 100    M  37    Y   0     K   0
Black       C   0    M   0    Y   0     K 100
Red         C   0    M  94    Y  65     K   0
Yellow      C   0    M  34    J  91     K   0
Green       C 100    M   0    J 100     K   0

For technical reasons, a direct tones version was designed, using Pantone reference colors.

Navy blue    289 C
Cyan blue   3005 C
Black        426 C
Red          192 C
Yellow       137 C
Green        355 C

The RGB version is restricted to screen display, especially on the Internet and digital interfaces.

Navy blue   R  10     G  30     B   71
Cyan blue   R   0     G 129     B  200
Black       R   0     G   0     B    0
Red         R 238     G  51     B   78
Yellow      R 252     G 177     B   49
Green       R   0     G 166     B   81

[Charte graphique CNOSF - Logotypes institutionnels & Marketing, March 2015]

The logo was designed by the Leroy Tremblot agency, commissioned on 8 July 2014 by the CNOSF. The design is based on four symbolic elements; the rooster, track, movement, and elegance.
As opposed to the early logo dropped in 1998 (see below), the rooster is looking forward, from left to right. Its linear graphic design mimics the serpentine layout of ice skating or a ribbon used in rhythmic gymnastics. It reads also like the wake of a sailing dinghy competing in a regatta, the route of a trial or a sportsman's movement on a field.
The blue line is a symbol of aspiration to liberty, elegance and pride. For the sake of balance, the width of the rooster's outline is the same as the width of the Olympic rings. The rooster is of a single blue shade, representing unity within difference. Both institutional and timeless, the rooster is also strikingly modern and innovative.
Deeply identifying through its more contemporary artistic design, the rooster proposes a modern and positive representation of the national symbol, expected to attract a great number of French people. Its aim is to represent commitment of Olympic France, strong and perennial, whilst remaining light. Like a fashion embroidery, the rooster mirrors French excellence and will work in every contexts, especially on derived products. The typography, very simple, legible and pure, contrasts with the graphic richness of the symbol and of the rings.
[La ligne bleue du coq... Genèse d'une création, 14 April 2015]

The logo was adopted in 2015 upon decision of Denis Masseglia (b. 1947), 8th President of the CNOSF (2009-2021), and validated by the board of the CNOSF.
The logo was redesigned in compliance with the rules issued by the IOC: the Olympic rings shall not cover more than one third of the total area of the logo and the country's name shall no longer be used on the logo. According to the CNOSF, the new logo is "more significant, more dynamic and better adapted to its ambitions".
[Un nouveau logo, pourquoi ?, 14 April 2015]

Tomislav Šipek & Ivan Sache, 28 January 2018


Former flag of the CNOSF

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Former flag of the CNOSF - Image by Ivan Sache, 29 January 2018

During the official reception by President Jacques Chirac of the French team that had competed in the 2004 Summer Olympic Games (Athens), the team diapered a white flag charged with the former logo of the CNOSF, the full name of the CNOSF being omitted.

The former logo of the CNOSF, unveiled in December 1997 and inaugurated in Nagano in 1998, was made of the word "FRANCE", in big blue letters, placed above the Olympic rings and the words "Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français" in smaller, black letters.
This logo succeeded an early version, featuring a Tricolor rooster standing over the Olympic rings. Henri Sérandour (1937-2009), 7th President of the CNOSF (1993-2009), required the design of a new logo and a better definition of its rules of use.
[Un nouveau logo, pourquoi ?, 14 April 2015; Les emblèmes des Bleus aux Jeux, 13 April 2015]

Ivan Sache, 29 January 2018

 


Departmental Olympic and Sports Committees

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Flags of CDOS: Hérault, Hautes-Pyrénées, Saône-et-Loire - Images by Olivier Touzeau, 3 July 2022

 

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Flags of CDOS: Hauts-de-Seine, Val-d'Oise - Images by Olivier Touzeau, 3 July 2022

The French National Olympic and Sports Committee has departmental sections in each department.
Constituted in the form of an association under the 1901 law, the Departmental Olympic and Sports Committees (CDOS) represent the CNOSF and the sports movement in their territory. Like the CNOSF at the national level, they bring together the territorial authorities of the federations and provide the local authorities with the contacts for the definition and implementation of their sports policy. Regional Olympic and Sports Committees (CROS) represent the CNOSF at the regional level. While operating jointly, CROS and CDOS are separate and independent associations. The mission of the CDOS is to develop the practice of sport, to safeguard and disseminate Olympism, to preserve the department's sporting heritage.
[Les comités départementaux olympiques et sportifs - site of the CNOSF] (source: )

Some of them have flags, white with the logo (the CNOSF logo with the acronym CDOS in white on a blue label below, above the name of the departement): for example Hautes-Pyrénées (photo), Hauts-de-Seine (photo, photo), Hérault (photo), Saône-et-Loire (photo), Val-d'Oise (photo).

Olivier Touzeau, 3 July 2022


Special Olympics France

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Flag of Special Olympics France - Image by Ivan Sache, 16 May 2021

Special Olympics France (fact sheet) was established in 1991.
As of 2019, the program involved 5,393 athletes and unified partners and 357 coaches, for the practice of 25 sports.

The flag of Special Olympics France (photo, photo) is red with the program's logo.

Paul Bassinson & Ivan Sache, 16 May 2021