Nuribi Mascot

The 2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade Organizing Committee (GUOC 2015) is carrying out promotional events at the campus grounds of local universities, and it has brought along its new weapon: the Universiade’s official mascot, Nuribi.

The name Nuribi is a combination of the Korean words nuri for “world” and bi for “fly.” Nuribi is thus characterized as a messenger of light and a bridge of communication amongst the world’s youth, a symbol for the four priorities of this month’s EPIC Forum on sports: environmental friendliness, peace, information technology, and culture. Nuribi’s hair is patterned after the Universiade’s “wings of light”.

According to the Universiade’s website, in the symbol of the wings of light “the five blue wings on the right refer to the five oceans, and the six red on the left to the six continents. The overlapping light denotes the harmony and friendship among the world’s youth in the Universiade.”

Wings of light are appropriate for Gwangju, which has styled itself as the “City of Light” for years. In fact, the organizing theme is pushing the idea further with its official English catchphrase for the Universiade games, “Light up tomorrow.”

The games’ Korean slogan is slightly different, translating to “Light of Creation, Light of the Future.” The association says the slogan “captures the will of Gwangju, with its banner ‘a creative city where all citizens are happy,’ to set new standards for the Universiade with creative event organization.” It emphasizes that the Universiade is more than a sporting event and can provide the world with direction for the future.

The organizing committee is currently using Facebook, Twitter, and other online media networks to promote the Universiade. The organizing committee is particularly enthusiastic about opening an official channel on Kakao Story, a popular Korean social networking service.