The emblem was unveiled during the IBU’s recent Congress in Chisinau in Moldova and was introduced by IBU secretary general Nicole Resch to the organisation’s membership.

The IBU claim the logo symbolises the elements of the sport, with the ice blue depicting “the natural cold winters” and the green colour standing for "dynamic and sustainable development”.

It will be used across all of the IBU’s print products from the upcoming season, such as their media guide, event guide and Biathlonworld magazine.

Organisers of major events, such as IBU World Cups are not obliged to feature the new logo, however, as they will have the option of using the old one “in order to give themselves time for a change”.

The emblem, designed by German-based creative sports network UnitedSenses, who helped rebrand the UEFA Europa League and produced videos for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games for television in Germany, will then be rolled out completely from the 2017 to 2018 campaign.

It comes amid the IBU’s overhaul of their marketing and branding, which is also due to include the launch of a brand-new website.

The IBU began a tender process for the website last month and the governing body is currently deciding on who to appoint for the role.

It is set to go live in November, according to the IBU.

The decisions were taken at the Congress in the Moldovan capital, where the IBU caused controversy by awarding their 2021 World Championships to Tyumen in Russia.

This came despite the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board’s recommendations that they "freeze preparations" for any major event in Russia and to "seek alternative hosts”, made in the wake of the McLaren Report.

insidethegames understands, that the Winter Federations were told by the IOC during a meeting at Rio 2016 that the ruling only applied to future candidacies of Russian cities for major events and not to those which had already been awarded or planned bids from the country, effectively giving the IBU the green light to select Tyumen to host the 2021 World Championships.

The World Anti-Doping Agency then threatened the IBU with Code non-compliance as a result of the vote to give the event to the Siberian city.