2014 Asian Games Mascots
The mascots for 2014 Asian Games are three seal siblings, namely, Barame, Chumuro, and Vichuan. With the prototype being taken from Baengnyeong Island, they were unveiled on November 4, 2010 in Songdo Island, pretty close to the main stadium in Incheon. Their names mean wind, dance, and light in the native language there and is in accordance with the theme of venues which shall be used during the Games.
According to the chief of the organizing committee, these mascots were chosen to symbolize peace between the currently estranged South and North Korea.
History of mascots at the Asian Games :
Since 1982, all Asian Games have had its own mascots. New Delhi initiated the trend as they hosted the games that year; the mascot then was ‘Appu’, an Indian elephant. In 1986 edition, the event was organized in Seoul and the mascot was ‘Korean Tiger’. When Beijing got the opportunity to host the event after 4 years, they named their mascot as ‘PanPan’ which was a Panda.
When Hiroshima got the opportunity to host the 1994 Asian Games, ‘Poppo and Cuccu’, a pair of white doves were the face of the games. During the 1998 Asian Games, ‘Chai-yo’ was selected as the mascot, which was an elephant. A seagull was used a mascot for 2002 edition and it was named as ‘Duria’. Four years later, when Doha got the opportunity to host the Asian Games, ‘Orry’ was the mascot which was a Qatari Oryx. In the last edition at Guangzhou, five sporty rams – Xiang, He, Ru , Yi, Le, and Yangyang were together the mascots of the event.