The logo for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games has been binned amid allegations that its designer used copied materials to create it.

In a backflip from earlier support for designer Kenjiro Sano, the organisers said the call came after new accusations arose over the weekend.

“We have reached a conclusion that it would be only appropriate for us to drop the logo and develop a new emblem,” Toshio Muto, director general of the Tokyo organising committee, said.

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“At this point, we have decided that the logo cannot gain public support.”

The logo has faced scrutiny since a Belgian designer took legal action saying it resembled one of his works that was created for a theatre in Belgium.

The designer of the logo from Belgium, pictured, says the Tokyo 2020 logo is a copy.

Organisers had defended Sano during a news conference last Friday when they released his original design, which had been altered into its final shape, to stress its authenticity. That, instead, triggered fresh allegations over the initial “T” design.

Mr Sano, 43, stood by his design but offered to withdraw the logo during discussions with the organisers.

“I swear my design did not involve copies or plagiarism,” Sano said in a statement on his website.

“Any attempt of suspected copying or plagiarism should never be permitted.”

Muto said the organising committee will have another competition to decide a new logo “as soon as possible,” though he did not give a schedule.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters before the announcement that the organising committee was making “an appropriate decision” and that the Olympic must be an event that is celebrated by everyone.

“Discontinuing (the logo) within just over a month of its announcement has shaken the trust” of the people and the global sports community, Japanese Olympic Committee President Tsunekazu Takeda said in a statement, urging officials to promptly provide an explanation.

– with AAP