Legal information on the Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games 2026

Major sporting events such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games always drive strong demand for fan T-shirts. This is where you come in: your sports-themed designs are especially popular right now. However, please be careful. Trademark rights should never be taken lightly. We explain what you need to keep in mind if you plan to publish sports-related designs at this time.

With the Olympic Winter Games starting on 6 February and the Paralympic Winter Games on 6 March, many of you may already be preparing to publish sports designs in your shops and/or on the Spreadshirt Marketplace.

However, please note that strict rules apply. Designs that clearly reference the Olympic Games may not be used without prior permission from the rights holder. The examples shown above include logos and motifs that are legally protected and must not be used in your designs under any circumstances.

This also applies to all combinations of “Olympics” or related terms such as “Olympic”, “Olympian”, or “Paralympic” with words like “Milan”, “Cortina”, “Italy”, “2026”, and similar. You should also be extremely careful when using rings, or even abstract representations that resemble the Olympic rings.

Information about the Olympics brand, as well as the official partners of this year’s Winter Games, can be found on the official Olympic Games website.

Please note that the images and word combinations mentioned above are only examples. If you are unsure whether certain terms or motifs are legally protected, you can research this using the following resources:

UK Intellectual Property Office

European Union Intellectual Property Office

If you have any questions on this topic, feel free to ask them in the comments below or in the forum. We wish you every success and look forward to seeing your creative designs!