Background
The International Year of Mountains was held in 2002 and with the aim of raising awareness and triggering action on issues relating to sustainable mountain development. The leading agency was the Food and Agriculture Organization. The International Year of Mountains was launched at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York on December 11, 2001.
On December 20, 2002, as the International Year of Mountains drew to a
close, the UN designated December 11 as International Mountain Day and
encouraged the international community to organize events to highlight
the importance of sustainable mountain development on this date.
International Mountain Day was first observed on December 11, 2003. Each
year International Mountain Day has a particular theme. Previous themes
have focused on freshwater, peace, biodiversity or climate change.
Symbols
The symbol of International Mountain Day consists of three
equilateral triangles, each orientated with two points on a single
imaginary horizontal line and one point directed upwards. The triangles
are mainly black and represent mountains. The triangle on the left has a
blue "diamond" shape at the top, representing ice or snow at the top of
a mountain. The middle triangle has an orange circle at its center,
representing resources that are mined from inside mountains. The
triangle on the right has a small green triangle at its lower right-hand
point.
This represents the crops that grow on mountains. Under the three
triangles is a black stripe containing the words "11 December" and the
words "International Mountain Day" in two shades of United Nations' use
of the color blue. The symbol of International Mountain Day is based on
the symbol for the International Year of Mountains (2002).
