The Olympics mascot is typically a creature of some kind. But for the Paris 2024 Summer Games, it will be a hat.
La Phryge Olympique and la Phryge Paralympique were revealed on Monday: red hats with eyes and legs.
The Phrygian cap, a soft, generally red hat, dates to headgear worn by freed slaves in Phrygia, an ancient Greek kingdom in what is now Turkey. But they are most associated with the American, and especially French Revolutions, where they were worn as a symbol of freedom.
Although you are not likely to see a liberty cap worn by a passer-by at the Place de la Bastille today, the hat is often seen in depictions of the revolution, like Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix.