Indigenous flavour to World Cup emblem

Fifa has unveiled the brand identity for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, which features work from indigenous artists based on both sides of the Tasman.

New Zealand and Australia will host the world’s largest women’s sporting event in less than two years. The launch of the emblem and slogan – beyond greatness – marks a key milestone in the build-up.

Ma¯ ori textile artist Fiona Collis was involved in creating a pattern representing New Zealand, while Aboriginal artist Chern’ee Sutton did likewise for Australia.

In its breakdown of the tournament emblem, Fifa said the New Zealand pattern ‘‘speaks to the coming together of mountains, people and cultures. The mountains are bound together harmoniously within the composition of the pattern, denoting inclusivity, convergence and the power of the collective.’’

Fifa’s New Zealand-born chief women’s football officer, Sarai Bareman, said it had been important to embrace the host countries’ ‘‘incredibly unique indigenous cultures’’ in designing the tournament’s visual identity.

‘‘For me, that’s one of the things that I think is most exciting, especially for the travelling fans who are going to be in New Zealand and Australia for the first time, many of them – to be able to experience that culture first-hand.’’

Bareman pointed to how Fifa was using the names of indigenous languages for the tournament’s host cities and how they’ve adopted local customs and greetings for meetings related to the event.

The World Cup is set to start on July 20, 2023, with matches to be played in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, and Dunedin, and several cities in Australia.