1924 Chamonix
In the first modern Olympic Games there where only summer events included. When the Summer Games became more and more popular a variety of winter sports was introduced as regular competitions. The first formal Winter Games were therefore held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The official poster for the International Winter Sports Week does not identify the event as a separate Winter Olympic Games but does make a connection with the VIII Olympic Games being held in Paris later that year. About 5.000 copies of the poster were printed.

1928 St. Moritz
The 1928 Winter Games, hosted by St. Moritz, Switzerland, were the first to be held in a different nation than the Summer Games of the same year. A new event was contested: the skeleton, which is like luge except that the athletes descend headfirst. The peaks of the Corvatsch Spiz (mountain of the Grisons) dominate the poster of the Olympic Winter Games in St. Moritz in 1928. It also featured the Swiss and International Olympic Committee flags. 12.000 copies were printed.

1932 Lake Placid
The third Winter Olympics, in 1932, were held in Lake Placid, New York State, a town of fewer than 4.000 people. Faced with major obstacles raising money in the midst of a depression, the president of the Organizing Committee, Dr. Godfrey Dewey, donated land owned by his family to be used for construction of a bobsleigh run. A ski jumper as well as a map of the USA showing Lake Placid are featured on the poster advertising the 1932 Olympic Games in Lake Placid.

1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen
The 1936 Games were held in the twin Bavarian towns of Garmisch and Partenkirchen. An efficient bus service allowed 500.000 people to attend the final day’s events. Alpine skiing events were included for the first time, and this led to a major controversy. The IOC, overruling the International Ski Federation (FIS), declared that ski instructors could not take part in the Olympics because they were professionals. Incensed, the Austrian and Swiss skiers boycotted the events. The dispute carried on after the Games and it was decided that skiing would not be included in the 1940 Olympics. The poster for the 1936 Winter Games suggests a skier giving the nazi salute. The anti-Semitic posters that had littered Germany before the games had disappeared. Signs that stated "Jews not welcome here" were not longer visible – anything was done to ensure that the Games went smoothly and caused no upset.

1948 St. Moritz
The 1940 Winter Olympics were scheduled for Sapporo, Japan. War with China forced the Japanese to admit, in July 1938, that they would be unable to host the Games. St. Moritz was chosen as an alternative site, but the continuing dispute about ski instructors led the Swiss to withdraw as well. The Germans volunteered Garmisch-Partenkirchen in July 1939, but four months later the reality of World War II forced the cancellation of the Olympics. The first postwar Games were held in St. Moritz in 1948. Germany and Japan were barred from competing but everyone else took part eagerly and it was clear that the Winter Olympics had successfully survived the 12-year hiatus. 15.000 copies of the official poster were printed.

1952 Oslo
In 1952, the Olympics were finally held in Norway, the birthplace of modern skiing. The Olympic flame was lit in the home of Sondre Nordheim, the first famous skier, and relayed by 94 skiers to Oslo. Tied to ski poles, the national flag of host nation Norway and the Olympic flag wave side by side on the official poster of the VI Olympic Winter Games. The best poster was chosen through a competition. The rules stipulated that the five intertwined colored rings had to be present as well as the text "VIes Jeux d’hiver – Oslo – 14 au 25 fevrier 1952". Knut Yran’s design was selected and 30.000 copies were made in seven languages.

1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo
The 1956 Winter Olympics, held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, were most notable for the first appearance by a team from the USSR. The Soviets immediately won more medals than any other nation. The official poster of the Games uses the theme of the official emblem, made up of the emblem of the Italian National Olympic Committee, as well as a view of the site of the host city. 11.000 copies were made.

1960 Squaw Valley
The 1960 Squaw Valley Games were preceded by a controversy when the organizing committee refused to build a bobsleigh run because only nine nations had indicated an intention to take part. This was the only time that bobsledding was not included in the Olympic program. As the Games were held in California, it seemed fitting that the chairman of the Pageantry Committee in charge of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies was none other than Walt Disney. A new sport, biathlon (a combination of cross-country skiing and shooting) was added to the Olympic program. The poster of the Games has the IOC emblem and the background represents a snow field. 57.228 copies were produced in five languages.

1964 Innsbruck
The 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck were threatened by a lack of snow. The Austrian army rushed to the rescue, carving out 20.000 ice bricks from a mountain top and transporting them to the bobsled and luge runs. They also carried 40.000 cubic meters of snow to the Alpine skiing courses. When rain caused further havoc ten days before the Opening Ceremony, the army packed down the slopes by hand and foot. Politically, the Games were notable because East and West Germany entered a combined team. The poster shows a half snow flake or crystal. One of the elements contains the Olympic rings. It was created by Wilhelm Jaruska (Austria), professor at the federal institute for the teaching of and research into graphics. He was the winner of the national invitation-only competition in which 12 artists participated. 59.695 copies were made in 10 languages.

1968 Grenoble
At the 1968 Grenoble Games, sex tests for women were introduced. French hero Jean-Claude Killy swept the men’s Alpine events but only after the greatest controversy in the history of the Winter Olympics. Killy’s rival, Karl Schranz, claimed that a mysterious man in black crossed his path during the slalom race, causing him to skid to a halt. Given a restart, Schranz beat Killy’s time. However, a Jury of Appeal disqualified Schranz and gave the victory to Killy. The poster was created by the publicist Jean Brian. The five Olympic rings featured on the official poster of the X Winter Games in Grenoble were shown as though in a fast downhill skiing competition. 170.000 copies were produced.

1972 Sapporo
The 1972 Sapporo Games in Japan were the first to be held outside Europe or the United States. The subject of amateurism stirred controversy when skier Karl Schranz was banned for receiving payment from ski product manufacturers while full-time ice hockey players from Communist nations were allowed to compete. Various well-known Japanese designers were involved in the creation of the posters. Four were selected.

1976 Innsbruck
The 1976 Winter Olympics were awarded to the U.S. city of Denver, but the people of the state of Colorado voted to prohibit public funds from being used to support the Games. Innsbruck stepped in and hosted the Games only 12 years after its last Olympics. Guided by the principle of not showing one sporting discipline in particular, Arthur Zelger, the designer of the poster, created a neutral poster showing a skate, a common feature of winter sports. This skate symbolizes all the disciplines found in the Winter Games: a ski run, a sledge or bobsleigh and the blade of a skate. The white rectangle on the tip makes the “I” of Innsbruck. On the right, in the background, the colored peaks symbolize the Tyrolean mountains.

1980 Lake Placid
The 1980 Winter Games, held in Lake Placid, New York, were filled with impressive performances. In an unprecedented achievement, Eric Heiden of the United States won all five speed skating races, from 500m all the way up to 10.000m. Nonetheless, for the home crowd, the highlight was the unexpected victory of the US ice hockey team. It features the official emblem representing a mountain and a double Olympic cauldron, commemorating the Games already held in Lake Placid in 1932.

1984 Sarajevo
In 1984, for the first and only time the Winter Games took place in a Socialist country. The people of Sarajevo gained high marks for their hospitality and there was no indication of the tragic war that would engulf the city only a few years later. The official poster of these Winter Games features the emblem and a stylized snowflake with the Olympic rings above.

1988 Calgary
For the first time, the Winter Olympics were extended to 16 days, including three weekends. The Alpine events were expanded from three to five with the inclusion of the super giant slalom and the Alpine combined. Team events were added in Nordic combined and ski jumping. The poster had a view of the city of Calgary, above the Olympic rings, the official emblem and the title "Come Together in Calgary Host City for the XV Olympic Winter Games February 13-28, 1988 Calgary, Alberta, Canada".

1992 Albertville
The 1992 Albertville Olympic Games were the last Winter Games to be staged in the same year as the Summer Games. Only 18 of the 57 events were held in Albertville itself while nearby resorts hosted the rest. Freestyle skiing and short-track speed skating made their debuts as medal disciplines, as did women’s biathlon. Mountains, snow, blue sky, the sun and Olympism are the different elements that make up this poster. The range of bold colors and the overall simplicity of the design makes it immediately recognizable to all. Jean-Claude Killy and Michel Barnier presented the official poster of the XVI Olympic Winter Games in Albertville and Savoie for the first time on 7 February 1991, exactly one year before the Games.

1994 Lillehamer
In 1986 the IOC voted to change the schedule of the Olympic Games so that the Summer and Winter Games would be held in different years. To adjust to this new schedule, the Lillehammer Games were held in 1994, the only time that two Games have been staged two years apart. The 1994 Games were extremely well organized and the Norwegian host’ natural love of winter sports added a refreshing purity of spirit. The posters were meant to incorporate three main aspects : Norwegian originality and particularity, human contact and contact between mankind and nature. They showed the Lillehammer emblem, the pictograms, the emblems, the crystal theme, colors, typography and the mascots.

1998 Nagano
After 26 years, the Winter Olympic Games returned to Japan in 1998. Snowboarding and curling debuted as official disciplines and women’s ice hockey was introduced to the Olympic program. For the first time, the men’s ice hockey tournament was opened to all professionals. Five kinds of official posters and seven sport posters were printed for these Games. In addition, for the first time at the Olympic Winter Games, a special poster was created for the Opening Ceremony. The first poster created was designated as the official poster for the XVIII Olympic Winter Games to be preserved for posterity. It shows a thrush perched on a ski pole with mountains in the light of dawn, evoking the concept of harmony with nature. It was designed by Masuteru Aoba.

2002 Salt Lake City
The Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games saw the expansion of the Olympic program to 78 events, including the return of skeleton and the introduction of women’s bobsleigh. Athletes from a record 18 nations earned gold medals. Polychrome poster composed of a photo representing a flag carrying the logo of the XIX Olympic Winter Games. The flag floats above the mountaintop in the background. Publisher: SLOOC; Fine Art, Saint-Louis.

2006 Torino
The official poster for Torino 2006 represents the image of the games and serves as a souvenir for all those spectators who wish to keep a reminder of this event in their homes as well. The poster has as central element, the Mole Antonelliana, a symbol that encompasses one single image of the values of the Games, of Sport and of the hosting territory.

As explained by Marco Testa, president of the Agenzia Armando Testa who designed the poster, “the Mole, recalling already in the brand of the Games, through imagination, humbly inclines to become a mountain and suggests, through a symbolic and multi-colored interpretative style, the idea of the Olympic slopes”. “Thanks to a graphic negative/positive technique, the light blue color of the image highlights the profile of another “Mole”, this time as white as snow, on which the Torino 2006 logo and claim were placed: Passion Lives Here”.