Nila

Nila is the official mascot of Sport Singapore, first introduced as the face of the inaugural Singapore National Games in 2012 and later as the mascot for the 2015 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and 2015 ASEAN Para Games. Named after Sang Nila Utama, the legendary prince who founded Singapura, Nila is an anthropomorphic lion with a heart-shaped face, symbolising community and unity, while his fiery mane symbolises the burning passion of athletes striving for victory.

Nila’s design was the winning entry submitted by Beatrice Cho, a first-year design student at Singapore Polytechnic, in a tertiary school mascot design competition. Out of 16 submissions, four were shortlisted—two cat designs and two lion designs. Beatrice’s design won more than 70% of the public online votes.

Nila played a prominent role in SEA Games 2015 marketing and branding, posing in all sports categories across collaterals, merchandise, and digital overlays.

Creative consultancy Animagine refined the design by carefully adjusting limb proportions to make Nila’s poses more natural.

Under the Make-A-Nila programme, 4,500 hand-sewn plush toys of Nila were presented to athletes during the victory ceremonies at the SEA Games. These plush toys symbolised friendship and camaraderie among regional sportsmen and women.

To further engage children, a series of web games called Nila’s Quest was launched, where players controlled Nila as he navigated mazes and solved puzzles set in different SEA countries.

Large inflatable Nila mascots were also erected at prominent locations around Singapore leading up to the SEA Games.

Beyond the SEA Games, Nila continues to be a prominent mascot in various community and sporting events, including GetActive! Singapore, which promotes an active and healthy lifestyle among Singaporeans. His name also inspired the national sports volunteerism movement, Team Nila.

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