Would your toothpaste smell as minty if it didn't have that slick little leaf logo on the box? In an image-driven society, it seems everything needs a boost in the form of an eye-catching slogan or snappy design.

Countries are no exception.

That's why the Czech Republic has come up with a brand-new logo with the aim of presenting itself as a modern and multifaceted member of the European Union.

From now on, a colorful field of speech bubbles that can be filled with Czech images will help shape the image that people abroad create of the Czech Republic. In one prototype, the images range from hockey star Jaromír Jágr to Pilsner Urquell to contact lenses (a Czech invention).

The Prague-based design studio Side2 created the new logo, which comes as a response to a survey the Foreign Affairs Ministry conducted in 2003 that revealed that most foreigners perceive this country as charming, but also simple and backward.

Can a logo truly change people's perception of a nation?

"Of course not. It doesn't work that way," said Robert V. Novák, who sat on the panel of judges who chose the winning logo out of a field of 415 different submissions. "A logo can only cause an impact if it's part of a systematic presentation. People have to use it."

The Foreign Affairs Ministry announced the logo competition last August and signed a contract Feb. 14 with Side2.

Novák said the key advantage of the speech-bubble logo is its flexibility. "It lets us show the different facets of this country — traditional ones as well as modern ones."

It will be some time before the new logo graces anything in public. Tourist officials say they plan on putting the logo mostly on pamphlets and other promotional materials like billboards.

Tomáš Machek, one of the logo's designers, said he is well aware that the new design on its own can't accomplish everything.

"A logo is one of the building blocks," he said. "In this case, the design we created will function more as a signature that will accompany other forms of presenting this country."

Side2's design will basically serve as a template with ever-changing content, depending on different contexts. When used in tourist pamphlets, for instance, the logo's speech bubbles are likely to frame historical monuments and other attractions.

Petr Krejzek, director of studio ReDesign, whose logo was one of five finalists, said he likes the winning entry. "It has a certain optimistic potential," he said. "It is a very professional piece of work with a clear content and an almost folkloric feeling."

But what's with the cartoonish speech bubbles?

"It's a way of conveying that the Czech Republic has many different narratives to tell," Machek said.

It wasn't easy to come up with a single powerful image that could represent such a diverse country, he said.

"We were racking our brains creating themes and lists," Machek said. "We immediately nixed obvious symbols such as the linden leaf, the Czech lion or Prague Castle. Finally we realized we could incorporate many images that can be varied."

The images filling the speech bubbles can thus include well-known Czech brands, such as Baťa and Budvar; photographs of Czech monuments; portraits of famous Czechs; or even words like "X-mas carp" (a traditional holiday dish) and "pink tank" (David Černý's famous post-Velvet Revolution art project).

Side2's design was thus not only the most flexible but also the most whimsical, according to Novák.

Novák complains that many of the submissions lacked originality.

"It's almost as though people were intimidated by the challenge of creating a design that would represent the Czech Republic," he said.

Some designs may have been timid, but there were others that were just plain silly, Novák recalled.

Had it not been for the prudent judgement of the selection committee, the logo representing the Czech Republic might have been this actual contest submission: a beer mug containing Charles Bridge, mountains and a setting sun in the background.