The official logo, visual identity and slogan for UEFA EURO 2012™ have been unveiled at a special event in Kyiv's Mykhailivska Square with co-hosts Ukraine and Poland looking forward to 'Creating History Together'.

Star guests

Football Federation of Ukraine President Grigoriy Surkis, his Polish Football Association counterpart Grzegorz Lato and UEFA President Michel Platini officially unwrapped the logo as the highlight of the launch proceedings. The ceremony was attended by the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, representatives from the eight host cities − Gdansk, Warsaw, Poznan, Wroclaw, Lviv, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Kyiv − and numerous other dignitaries.

At the beginning of the meeting Grigoriy Surkis made his greeting speech:

Dear Mr UEFA President, Mr President of Ukraine, Mr Chairman of Verkhovna Rada, Prime Minister, guests and mass media representatives,

Few days ago the UEFA Executive Committee has decided that Kyiv, Donetsk, Lviv and Kharkiv will all host UEFA EURO 2012 matches. Furthermore, Kyiv Olympiyskiy stadium was confirmed to host the tournament final.

On behalf of millions of Ukrainian fans I want to thank UEFA once again and its President Michel Platini for their assistance on our complicated way to the desired aim.

From now on we are enriched with new strength and experience and step to a new level that brings us closer to EURO 2012, the main football event.

We are eye-witnessing a unique occurrence, which will be added to the modern history of our young democratic country.

Presentation of the symbol and slogan of the Tournament in the center of an ancient Kyiv will become a prominent milestone not only in preparation for European Championship, but also in extensive presentation of original culture of the cradle of the Slavic civilization.

I am proud that I am personally participating in premising of this outstanding event in the life of the country. I would like to share this pride with every patriot who also shows concern for the European future of our children and grandchildren. Take a look into the mirror of EURO 2012 and you will see your smiling tomorrow…

Visual identity
The purpose of the logo is to give UEFA EURO 2012™ a personality of its own, with the visual identity to be applied across a range of promotional applications from tickets to web banners. The objective is to help promote the tournament − one of the world's biggest sporting events − by providing an easily recognisable identity with a flavour of the host nations. The logo takes its visual lead from 'wycinanka', the traditional art of paper cutting practised in rural areas of Poland and Ukraine, as a tribute to the fauna and flora of the region.

EURO bloom
The 'bloom' logo has a flower representing each of the co-host nations and a central ball symbolising the emotion and passion of the competition, while the stem denotes the structural aspect of the competition, UEFA and European football. Nature has inspired other features of the visual identity, with woodland green, sun yellow, aqua blue, sky blue and blackberry purple being the crucial tones of the palette of colours to figure in official tournament branding.

Uniting ethos
The event slogan, meanwhile, is 'Creating History Together'. The staging of the UEFA European Championship finals in Poland and Ukraine, a first for Central and Eastern Europe, will have a place in the history books, with everyone involved in UEFA EURO 2012™ − organisers, host countries, host cities, players and fans − contributing to another exciting chapter of European football.