Just weeks before the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Milan on February 6, Olympic officials blocked Haiti’s plan to feature a painting of revolutionary leader Toussaint Louverture on its team uniforms, prompting a race against time that culminated in a radically altered, hand-painted redesign—the first in the games’ 100-year history.

The Louverture painting featured on the uniforms is by Haitian-born, American artist Edouard Duval-Carrié. He is currently preparing to represent Haiti at this year’s Venice Biennale, according to the Miami Herald, an event often dubbed “the art world Olympics.”

When coming up with her design for the uniforms of Haiti’s two-person Winter Olympics team, Italian-Haitian designer Stella Jean chose to recreate Duval-Carrié’s lively contemporary portrait of Louverture on horseback. The 2006 painting, which she believes captures “the Haitian spirit,” shows a smartly-dressed, barefoot Louverture riding a red horse and holding up a snake in place of a sword. In Haiti’s Voodoo tradition, the snake refers to the great spirit Damballa, a symbol of wisdom, patience, and peace.

Edouard Duval-Carrié, Toussaint Louverture (2006). Image: © Edouard Duval-Carrié 2006, courtesy of Figge Art Museum.

But on January 4, just one month before the games were due to begin, the International Olympics Committee (IOC) ruled that the image is a violation of its rule against the use of political propaganda on uniforms.

Scrambling for a solution, Jean enlisted the help of a team of artisans at her studio in Rome to adapt the uniform, removing Louverture and the snake but keeping the verdant scenery and charging horse. She believes the image is now more powerful than ever.

“We did not erase the spirit of the General,” Jean said in an email. “His absence speaks louder than his presence ever could,” she added, noting the “global buzz” it has provoked.

“Two hundred years later? It’s amazing that Toussaint would represent a political statement,” the artist Duval-Carrié told the Miami Herald. He described the IOC’s decision as “a bit cheeky.”

Team Haiti uniform for the 2026 Winter Olympics, designed by Stella Jean. Photo courtesy Stelle Jean.

Jean said that the IOC’s decision was initially met with “total despair.” It was the words of her Haitian mother–”in moments of challenge, don’t focus on what is missing–look at everything you already have”–that eventually spurred the designer into action.

“Once again, Haiti found a solution through something that no crisis, no embargo, no civil war can ever take away: its art, its creativity,” said Jean. Invoking the legacy of Louverture, who helped defeat European powers and pave the way for Haitian independence, she described the outcome as “a story of resistance.”

Italian artisans worked “day and light until the very last moment, completely repainting the uniforms by hand,” according to Jean. The final products were delivered to Milan on Wednesday, just two days before tonight’s grand opening ceremony.