Amigo Pan American Games Mascot

Green parrot illustration with rainbow hair, yellow beak and feet, and purple shirt that has yellow logo on white background.

The 1987 Pan American Games were the 10th Pan Am Games, a sporting event competition that runs alternatively to the Olympics in summer. These are also known as the X Pan American Games, which took place over two weeks in August. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in North, South, and Central America participated and 1015 medals were awarded. This event took place in 23 venues across Indianapolis and there were competitions in 30 sports. The official mascot was Amigo, a green parrot that represented friendliness and festivity. The official logo for the 10th Pan Am Games consisted of 5 stylized X’s, the Roman numeral for 10. The mascot and the logo were both designed by Indianapolis residents. The opening ceremony was held at the site of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The X Pan Am Games were financially successful as they brought in $175 million dollars to the local community and cost around $30 million to put on, making Indianapolis the first Pan Am Games to break even. This also led the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to consider Indianapolis for their headquarters and in 1997, they made the move to Indianapolis.