After an open process within the region’s rugby family, Sudamérica Rugby has unveiled its new logo, following the changing of its name from Confederación Sudamericana de Rugby (CONSUR) in June. 

More than 30 imaginative designs were submitted during the competition phase before the successful one was chosen. That task fell to a panel that included Sebastián Mejía Gil (captain of the Colombian national team and recent champions of the South American B Championship), Paula Ishibashi (Brazil sevens player preparing for Rio 2016), Pablo Lemoine (former international and Uruguay coach at RWC 2015), Edison Avellaneda (Ecuador player, who is also in charge of communications for his national federation), Agustín Pichot (World Rugby Council Member and President of Americas Rugby), Dominic Rumbles (World Rugby’s Head of Communications), the communications department of Sudamérica Rugby and Carlos Barbieri (World Rugby Council Member and President of Sudamérica Rugby).

“Our goal was to involve the whole region so that amongst ourselves we could decide on the best logo,” explained Barbieri. “To do so, in the final stage we gave our followers the opportunity to vote through our social media platforms and make them part of our decision. The outcome is very satisfying and we are proud of our new logo. It’s another step forward for our association.”

Five finalists were chosen by the panel and a vote was taken via social media. The winning design was that sent by father and son Daniel and Franco Boccardo from Argentina.

The designers explained: “We wanted to represent the diversity of South America through the colours we used, which were also similar to those used by Sudamérica XV, the team that played in the 1980s and beat South Africa in Bloemfontein in 1982. Also, those colours are in the flags of the countries that form Sudamérica Rugby. 

“Using the oval form represents our sport. The diagonal placement gives it dynamism and movement. The bands give the idea of teamwork because when seen together they create a dynamic form but when taken on their own they lose significance.”

Both designers will receive a playing jersey from the real Sudamérica XV team.

Sudamérica Rugby is formed by the rugby unions of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatamala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.