2022 Mini Games logo formally unveiled

Gov. Ralph DLG Torres, first lady Diann Torres, Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, Northern Marianas Sports Association president Jerry Tan, Bishop Ryan Jimenez, 2022 Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games Organizing Committee chair Marco T. Peter, and Mini Games organizing committee CEO Vicente “Ben” Babauta flank 2022 Mini Games logo winner Kadi Marshal Yamada Camacho on stage during last Thursday’s formal unveiling of the quadrennial event’s logo. (Mark Rabago)

Aside from the countdown clock for the 2022 Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games being turned on, the 11th staging of the quadrennial event’s colorful logo was also formally unveiled during the launch ceremony last Thursday at the Oleai Sports Complex.

Designed by Kadi Marshal Yamada Camacho, the logo incorporates elements of the indigenous Chamorro and Carolinian cultures in its design. Camacho said the official unveiling of the logo, which was chosen in a competition, was a long time coming,

“I designed the 2021 Pacific Mini Games logo in late 2018 and now it’s being unveiled as the 2022 Pacific Mini Games logo,” he said. The Mini Games the CNMI is hosting next year was supposed to take place this year, but was eventually moved to 2022 to make way for the Tokyo Olympics that was originally set in 2020.

“The main depictions of this logo are the latte stones and mwaar as depicted by the two individuals supporting the red flower wreath. The outward boundaries of the two individuals delineate a silhouette of a latte stone. The bodies of the individuals create the cornerstone of the latte stone and headstone are the arms supporting the wreath,” said Camacho in describing his winning logo design.

He added that the mwaar with 11 flowers actually depicts the 11 times that these Mini Games would have happened. The red color, meanwhile, symbolizes the CNMI’s “state flower”—the flame tree, which is now in full bloom along the CNMI’s roads.

“The three individuals you see in blue, yellow, and green are a call for diversity and unity in this large sports event. [Aside from the] outer two that support the mwaar, the middle individual reaches upward in a reach for excellence as a champion in their own right. This individual’s body also outlines the proa-style shape, a call to our voyaging and maritime heritage,” added Camacho.

He went on say that the yellow individual’s body is decorated by 14 white or clear spaces because it represents the 14 islands in the CNMI. “Nine on the Northern Islands chain and five on the southern chain.”

Camacho then said the purple wave element seen in the bottom of the logo that supports the whole latte stone and mwaar is the Pacific Games Council logo. “If the ocean and waves connect the various Pacific islands this wave element represented by the Pacific Games Council logo supports and connects all these island-nations participating in this 2022 Pacific Mini Games.”

At the end of his presentation, Camacho was awarded a token of recognition for winning the 2022 Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games logo design competition with no less than Gov. Ralph DLG Torres, first lady Diann Torres, Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, Northern Marianas Sports Association president Jerry Tan, Bishop Ryan Jimenez, 2022 Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games Organizing Committee chair Marco T. Peter, and Mini Games organizing committee CEO Vicente “Ben” Babauta joining him on stage.