‘The Blazing Cup’ a bold new brand identity for the 32nd America’s Cup has been unveiled today (15 June 2004).

‘The Blazing Cup’ is an incarnation of the passion, the prestige, and the fascination with the duel that is at the heart of the America’s Cup. Flames, sparked from two duelling yachts at the base of the Cup spiral up along its edge, symbolising the intensity and passion of the drama that is the America’s Cup.

Margrethe van der Stroom Holdener, Director of Marketing and Business for AC Management said; “AC Management is very proud of the brand identity developed in collaboration with the team from Dragon Rouge. The identity developed completely captures the passion and spirit of the whole America’s Cup story, both from the past, and towards the future.”

The bright new look is embodied by the black, red, silver and yellow hues used to create the bold new image of the America’s Cup. Black represents the uncompromising spirit, while Red is symbolic of the duel. The Silver is the America’s Cup. Yellow is for the host city of Valencia, Spain. Red and Yellow are powerful colours – the Red for the blood of the vanquished, Yellow for the Gold of the treasured prize. A perfect metaphor for the finality of the America’s Cup duel.

The powerful image of the Blazing Cup is reinforced with text. A slogan paraphrases response to a question posed by a disappointed Queen Victoria as she watched the yacht America cross the finish line ahead of the British fleet. “Ma’am, there is no second,” told the harsh truth over 150 years ago, just as we know that for the 32nd America’s Cup, “There will be no second.”

‘The Blazing Cup’, the brand architecture and the visual identity of the 32nd America’s Cup was created by Dragon Rouge, a European design and creative agency that was established in Paris by Pierre Cazaux and Patrick Veyssière 20 years ago. Today Dragon Rouge is one of the leading agencies in Europe with offices in London, Warsaw, Hamburg and New York. The America’s Cup design team was led by Christian de Bergh and Aaron Levin.

Aaron Levin, Creative Director for Dragon Rouge explained; “The America’s Cup has been witness to more than 150 years of passion, glory, deception, honour, and revenge? It’s almost as if these stories were etched on to its surface. We wanted to do something that would express both the magnificence of the Cup and also the drama of these human feelings.

For more information log onto www.americascup.com.