Paris pictograms from the International Olympic Committee and historical pictograms from the Olympic Studies Centre. Text by Kelsey Ables. Story editing by Kendra Nichols. Photo editing by Jintak Han.

At least the bridge pictogram is a bunch of card suits. Exciting! Hopefully by the time the esports competition kicks off, on Aug. 26, we'll have a much more comfortable-looking pictogram to talk ...

The origins of pictograms are ideograms and hieroglyphs from thousands of years ago. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has selected some pictograms as international standards.

Researching modern pictograms on a worldwide basis, the team produced 34 distinct pictograms. By 1979, 16 more symbols were added to the system, which brought the total to 50, where it remains today.

The simplicity and standardization of the isotype language came more fully into the Olympic pictogram arena with the 1972 Munich Olympics, but in between came the 1968 Mexico games, where, as ...