Only the fact that I am not a Japanese national, allied to a manifest lack of artistic ability, is preventing me from joining the rush to replace the original emblem produced in a competition closed to all but those with design awards, which has had to be withdrawn following charges of plagiarism.

"We’re expecting at least 10,000 applications this time,” Ryohei Miyata, head of the 19-strong Emblems Selection Committee, said as the competition – which runs until December 7 – opened this week.

This sudden democratisation has been prompted by a claim from Belgian designer Olivier Debie that the logo created by Japanese designer Kenjiro Sano too closely resembled his own for the Théâtre de Liège.

A lawsuit against the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by the Théâtre was dropped but Debie is believed to be proceeding with his own case.

It’s a serious business, to be sure. But then, so is designing an Olympic and Paralympic logo, as the Tokyo 2020 entry form makes very specifically clear.

All applicants are asked to “give free rein to their imagination”. But there are just a few stipulations reining all that imagination in.

The logo has to comprise – from the top – an emblem, a “word mark” and either the Olympic rings or Paralympic Agitos, all of which have to be in a strict size ratio to each other.

There are 14 reasons why designs will not be “subject to evaluation”. And just in case anyone was in any doubt, they include these:

“Designs that contain an anti-social element or slander; designs that contravene public order or other laws and regulations.”

“Designs that contain a political, religious or commercial message.”

(As regards the very last consideration, all that kind of thing can be added on later, as it was with the London 2012 logo, which effectively became the top half of a running shoe when juxtaposed with the artwork of the official sportswear partner for those Games.)

But once you have got the technicalities sorted out, you move on to another level of difficulty:

“The emblem designs should seek to elicit empathy from and be loved by not only Japan but people all over the world,” say the organisers. “The emblems should be something that everyone involved in the Games would be proud (of) even after the Games are over.”

So by all means give rein to that aesthetic spirit everyone, but while you are about it please also be mindful that the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee would like you to incorporate within your creation the following “key concepts” of their formulated Games Vision:

The power of sport; Japanese-ness and Tokyo-ness; Personal Best and Utmost Efforts; Sense of Unity and Inclusion; Innovativeness and future-orientated; Reconstruction and the Power to Rise Up.”

Oh sorry, I was forgetting the last key concept: “World Peace".

That is a lot of work for a little logo to do, and I can only wish all engaged in this urgent task the best of luck with their efforts.

Now a logo, as those of us with access to Wikipedia well know, is a shortened version of the word “logotype”, combining the Greek for “word” and “imprint”, with the aim of achieving “instant public recognition.”

Using that yardstick (subs please supply metric version of this phrase) I am now closing my eyes and trying to remember which Olympic logos, in my own experience, have achieved such an aim.

Barcelona 1992- primary colours, leaping gymnast or something? Remember that because I got a free Games towel which eventually turned a shade of blue in an ill-advised wash mix. Er. Sydney 2000, Sydney 2000…brilliant Games. Wonderful. Nope. Can’t remember. Atlanta 1996. Something green? A leaf? Beijing 2008? Definitely had red in it. Very Chinese. Can’t remember.

The truth hurts, but there we are.

And it hurts me to have to say that, judging by that aforementioned yardstick, the London 2012 logo was an outstanding success.

It’s a curious coincidence that the number of people who have already downloaded application forms to re-design the Tokyo 2020 logo – 50,000 - closely resembles the number of those who, in the aftermath of the London 2012 logo launch in 2007, signed a petition of protest, calling on the Organising Committee to “scrap and change the ridiculous logo unveiled for the London 2012 Olympics.”

The petition was closed off, with 48,595 signatories, when it became clear that there would be no return to the logo London 2012 had employed during the bid process.

“The logo for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics was unveiled in a star-studded ceremony in London in June 2007,” read the official London 2012 release. “The jagged emblem, based on the date 2012, comes in a series of shades of pink, blue, green and orange and will evolve in the run-up to the Games. The word London and the Olympic rings are included in the first two digits of the new logo.”

"This is the vision at the very heart of our brand," said the chairman of London 2012, Sebastian Coe (whatever happened to him?)

Within 24 hours of the launch, on June 4, 2007, BBC’s 606 site had gathered almost 1,500 comments – mostly adverse.

One entry set the tone: “I have vomited better logos…” Others likened the logo to a swastika, or to Lisa Simpson.

The response of 606 user Willyhonda was quoted more fully:

“Is this supposed to be one of those picture puzzles that eventually makes sense after slowly refocussing your mind's eye? It has gone beyond the acceptable limits of effective communication by trying to be too clever. It represents already-dated graffiti (even graffiti can be contemporary art) and is like a Channel 4 title sequence gone wrong.”

As the 2012 Games came towards a close, however, two representatives of the international branding consultancy Wolff Olins which had created its controversial emblem – Brian Boylan and Ije Nwokorie – defended their work in an interview with www.fastcodesign.com

“London didn’t need to be put on the map with an iconic representation,” said Boylan. “We weren’t going to show the Tower of London, London Bridge, or the Houses of Parliament with some sort of watercolour hurdler over the top…

 “…The mark itself came from an energy grid we drew of lines that moved around, contained within a rectangle, which we stopped at one particular moment. This was used in a very random way to create a pattern, so this idea of freeform is right at the heart of the brand.”

Nwokorie added: “It is, probably more than ever before, an international, multicultural, creative, modern, energetic, and therefore dissonant city. We wanted to show something you could bump into on the street - using that language - as opposed to something that felt ‘official’… we set out to make these Olympics in 2012 to be noticed—to be different because they are different.”

And the thing is, as I close my eyes, I can still see with hideous clarity those queasy fragments in pink, blue, green and orange. Instant recognition. Job done.