What is the hidden message in the 2010 FIFA World Cup logo?

Answer 1

First up, take a look at South Africa's flag, with an emphasis on it's colours; Red, Blue, Green, Gold & Black.

Secondly, take a look at the African continent, look at it's shape.

Now, look at the FIFA 2010 World Cup - South Africa logo. What do you see? Behind the figure, you'll see a stylized version of the African continent made up of the colours of the South African flag. What this means is;

1) the World Cup is in South Africa, hence the colours

2) South Africa is a diverse, multicultural country, hence the many colours

3) the shape of the African continent to emphasis that while this World Cup is hosted in South Africa, it is also for Africa.

Now, the figure. No, it is not a skinny black dude. South Africa is considered the cradle of mankind. Some of the oldest pre-modern human remains have been discovered here. Because of this, South African caves are adorned with very old rock paintings and if you have ever seen rock paintings depicting humans anywhere in the world, you'll see a similarity between them and the black figure in the logo. Also, South Africa's oldest residents, the Khoisan, also known as Bushmen by the rest of the world, painted their history on rocks in a similar fashion to early humans. And these rocks are generally a reddish-brown in colour with mostly black "painting", hence the orange and black of the figure and this backround. You'll also notice orange and black is the colour of the World Cup. The black figure, while being a stylized image of a footballer doing an over-head kick, is also a homage to the importance of South Africa in human evolution and pays respect to it's earliest inhabitants' "artwork".

Then in the top left, in blue, is a stylized version of the World Cup trophy, similar to what can be found in the Kore/Japan logo of 2002. This could also be South Africa paying respect to the first country outside of Europe & the Americas to host a World Cup. South Africa's way of relating to them for being another first.

See, nothing malicious