16.7 million color possibilities: Who picks what the Cincinnati icon sign looks like?

The Cincinnati icon sign glows from afar as part of the city's western skyline. It's the crowning jewel of Cincinnati's convention center.

Yet, the letters spelling the city as CinCinnaTi on the Duke Energy Convention Center sign are never the same color. Why? And who gets to pick the colors?

Anyone can make a request, but they are approved by the city manager or convention center manager. It's as easy as a touch of a button. Think orange for a Cincinnati Bengals game or blue and orange for an FC Cincinnati playoff game. The sign was purple for Blink and lavender for the Taylor Swift Eras Tour stop in Cincinnati.

A review of two years of color changes on the sign shows the most political of the changes was blue and white Oct. 9-12, the colors of the Israeli flag, after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks.

Ric Booth, general manager of Duke Energy Convention Center, told The Enquirer earlier this year via email that for the most part, the sign is "for clients, Cincinnati collaborative efforts, and international/national causes that help show Cincinnati support on a national/international level."

Clients who host shows and events at the Duke Energy Convention Center are offered input on the sign's color to welcome their attendees using their event brand colors and requests.

The sign was installed in 2006 and back then was white. If a color change was needed, it was done manually with colored panels placed over the white ones. In 2014, it was upgraded to LED lights, with 16.7 million color combinations that can be programmed via computer.

As a renovation of the Duke Energy Convention Center is set to begin sometime this year, city officials and Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. leadership told The Enquirer in July they are thinking of taking it down as part of the upcoming renovation and expansion but replacing it with an architectural marker that still welcomes drivers to Cincinnati.

"That side of the building is really important and we have to make sure it does something that introduces people to the city," said Steve Leeper, president and CEO of the organization, known as 3CDC.

No decisions have been made yet.

Two years of color changes

Bengals home games, including playoffs

• Color: Orange.

• When: August through January 2022/2023.

• Requested by: 3CDC/Visit Cincy/Bengals.

FC Cincinnati opening night and playoff games

• Colors: Blue and Orange.

• When: 2022/2023.

• Requested by: 3CDC.

International Women’s Day

• Color: Orange.

• When: March 8, 2022.

• Requested by: Jackie Reau, CEO of Game Day Communications.

Beerfest

• Color: Yellow.

• When: April 1−2, 2022 and February 3−4, 2023.

• Requested by: Convention center.

Child Abuse Prevention Month

• Color: Blue.

• When: April 12−13, 2022; April 12, 2023.

• Requested by: Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center and Hamilton County Job and Family Services.

Earth Day

• Color: Green.

• When: April 18−22, 2022.

• Requested by: City of Cincinnati.

National Crime Victim’s Week

• Color: Purple.

• When: April 24−25, 2022.

• Requested by: Group supporting Marcy’s Law for Ohio.

Children’s Tumor Foundation

• Color: Blue and Green.

• When: May 16−18, 2022.

• Requested by: City of Cincinnati.

Gun Violence Awareness

• Color: Orange.

• When: June 3−5, 2022.

• Requested by: City of Cincinnati.

RIDE Cincinnati

• Color: Orange.

• When: June 3, 2022.

• Requested by: Erica Almquist of public relations firm Pomme Communications.

Make Music Day (a global music celebration)

• Color: Orange.

• When: June 21, 2022.

• Requested by: Leighann Dunkley from the Cincinnati chapter.

Pure Romance

• Color: Pink.

• When: August 4−7, 2022 and April 17−22, 2023.

• Requested by: In-house event.

PCOS Awareness (National Polycystic Ovary Syndrome)

• Color: Teal.

• When: Sept. 2, 2022.

• Requested by: The National PCOS Association.

Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness

• Color: Blue.

• When: Sept. 22, 2022 and Sept. 21, 2023.

• Requested by: City of Cincinnati.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

• Color: Pink.

• When: Oct. 1−11, 17−18, 24, 26−31, 2022; October 1−11, 17-18, 27, 30−31, 2023.

• Requested by: City of Cincinnati.

Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day

• Colors: Green, teal and pink.

• When: October 12, 2022.

• Requested by: LightUpMBC.

Blink

• Color: Purple.

• When: October 13−16, 2022.

• Requested by: Cincinnati Chamber.

Black and White Cancer Survivors Gala

• Colors: Light Blue and Pink.

• When: Nov. 5, 2022 and Nov. 4, 2023.

• Requested by: In-house event.

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Awareness

• Color: Orange.

• When: Nov. 7, 2022.

• Requested by: David Whelan.

Zonta Says No to Violence Against Women

• Color: Orange.

• When: Nov. 25−Dec. 1, 2022.

• Requested by: YWCA of Greater Cincinnati.

Injured Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin

• Colors: Blue and White.

• When: Jan. 3, 2023.

• Requested by: Convention center.

Black is Excellence

• Colors: Red, Black and Green.

• When: Feb. 9−12, 2023.

• Requested by: City of Cincinnati.

Cholangiocarcinoma

• Color: Green.

• When: Feb. 6, 2023.

• Requested by: City of Cincinnati.

Human Rights Campaign

• Color: Yellow.

• When: Feb. 18, 2023.

• Requested by: In-house event.

Kenzie’s Closet − Painting the City Pink

• Color: Pink.

• When: Feb. 21−23, 2023.

• Requested by: 3CDC.

National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts

• Colors: Red and Blue.

• When: March 15−18, 2023.

• Requested by: In-house event.

Save Soil

• Colors: Blue and Green.

• When: March 21, 2023.

• Requested by: Save Soil Global Movement.

Xavier March Madness

• Color: Blue.

• When: March 23−26, 2023.

• Requested by: Visit Cincinnati president and CEO Julie Calvert.

Gamma Phi Delta

• Colors: Pink and Blue.

• When: April 13−15, 2023.

• Requested by: Visit Cincy and Gamma Phi Delta Sorority.

World Hemophilia Day

• Color: Red.

• When: April 16, 2023.

• Requested by: Alejandro Marquez.

Flying Pig Marathon

• Color: Pink.

• When: May 5−7, 2023.

• Requested by Jackie Reau/Flying Pig Marathon.

Lung Force Initiative

• Color: Turquoise.

• When: May 8, 2023.

• Requested by: American Lung Association Ohio.

Neurofibromatosis Awareness

• Colors: Blue and Green.

• When: May 18−19, 2023.

• Requested by: Cincinnati Health Department.

Taylor Swift Eras Tour

• Color: Lavender.

• When: June 30 and July 1, 2023.

• Requested by: VisitCincy.

British Airway’s Direct Flight to London

• Colors: Blue and red.

• When: June 5, 2023.

• Requested by: Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center Hospital Ranking Announcement

• Color: Teal.

• When: June 21−28, 2023.

• Requested by: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

World Fragile X Day

• Color: Teal.

• When: July 22, 2023.

• Requested by: FRAXA Research Foundation.

Western and Southern Open

• Color: Tennis ball yellow.

• When: August 12−20, 2023.

• Requested by: Jackie Reau/Western & Southern Tennis Tournament.

National Recovery Month (held nationally every September to educate people about substance use treatment and mental health services)

• Color: Purple.

• When: August 28−31, 2023.

• Requested by: Noah Beiting.

Israel Flag Colors

• Colors: Blue and White.

• When: Oct. 9−12, 2023.

• Requested by: City of Cincinnati.

Red Ribbon Week Drug Awareness

• Color: Red.

• When: Oct. 26, 2023.

• Requested by: City of Cincinnati.

Domestic Violence Awareness

• Color: Purple.

• When: Oct. 25, 2023.

• Requested by: YWCA Greater Cincinnati.

Alzheimer’s Foundation of America’s Light the World in Teal Campaign

• Color: Teal.

• When: Nov. 2, 2023.

• Requested by: Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.

DAV 5k/Veteran's Day

• Color: Neon green.

• When: Nov. 9−10, 2023.

• Requested by: Jackie Reau/DAV.

RedsFest

• Color: Red.

• When: Dec. 1−2, 2023.

• Requested by: In-house.

*Information provided by the city of Cincinnati. The Enquirer requested two years of information.

About the sign

The sign is made of 78 lighted metal panels set at angles on the western facade of the Duke Energy Convention Center, spelling out Cincinnati in 50-foot-tall letters.

It's a prominent part of the city's skyline from the West Side and can be seen from Interstate 75.

Constructed: During the convention center expansion of 2006.

Sign size: 320 feet wide, 50 feet high

Panel size: 9-feet wide, 10-feet high

Why is it in a straight line: According to the city designers who created the Cincinnati icon sign, given the available options for the LED's at that time, there was no way to do a diagonal line. So they had to use vertical and horizontal options only. Upper and lower case letters were used to fit within both the architecture and space.

Make a sign color request

Make a sign request: www.duke-energycenter.com/contact

Availability is checked. Some are vetted by the Cincinnati city manager.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Duke Energy Convention Center's Cincinnati sign changes colors