SEE: Brooklyn Museum OY/YO Sculpture Goes Blue For Ukraine

BROOKLYN, NY — An iconic Brooklyn sculpture has gone blue and yellow in solidarity with Ukraine.

The "O" in the yellow OY/YO sculpture outside the Brooklyn Museum was wrapped Thursday in blue fabric to become the latest public symbol offering solidarity with the country in light of Russian President Vladimir Putin's ongoing full-scale invasion.

The "Glory to Ukraine" message is especially personal for the sculpture's artist Deborah Kass, whose grandparents hail from a small Jewish community near Ukraine's capital city, according to the museum.

The support of Ukraine and "its diasporic communities worldwide fighting for sovereignty and democratic freedom" also connects deeply to the theme of the sculpture, which is a nod to multiculturalism.

"Her activation aligns with her original motivation in creating this sculpture—to connect communities and to see our commonalities," the museum wrote in an Instagram post.

The eight-foot-tall OY/YO, inspired by Milton Glaser's I Love NY logo and Robert Indiana's LOVE, was brought to the Brooklyn Museum in 2018 after first debuting in Brooklyn Bridge Park in 2015.

The public artwork unites multiple cultures with two brief characters. From one perspective, it tells views, "YO" — "I" in Spanish and "Hey" in Brooklynese — from another, it's the Yiddish word best accompanied by an eye-roll.

Museum officials said the blue-and-yellow symbolism was inspired by a community member who reached out with the idea.

The blue fabric is also a nod to Bulgarian-born artist Christo, who famously wrapped cultural monuments and buildings in fabric, according to the museum.

The sculpture symbolism comes the week after Putin's decision to attack and invade Ukraine, the largest military incursion in Europe since World War II. The invasion has shocked New Yorkers, many of whom have deep ties to the nation.

Hundreds of Ukrainian-Americans, among others, protested Putin at a rally Thursday that started in Times Square. All protesters who spoke with a Patch reporter said they have family and friends ones in Ukraine.