With the Winter Games underway in Sochi, Google quietly but vibrantly added its voice Thursday to the chorus of US companies speaking out against Russia's law restricting gay-rights activities by updating its iconic search page logo to depict illustrations of athletes skiing, sledding, curling and skating against a rainbow-coloured backdrop.

The company declined to comment on the new Google Doodle that appeared on its home pages worldwide, saying it wanted the illustration to speak for itself. But the logo clearly was meant as a show of support for gay rights and a rebuke of the law that bans pro-gay "propaganda" that could be accessible to minors: below the updated logo appears a two-sentence section of the Olympic charter that reads, in part, "The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind."

"Google has made a clear and unequivocal statement that Russia's anti-LGBT discrimination is indefensible," said Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin, whose Washington-based group has been lobbying American corporations, especially those sponsoring the Games in Sochi, to condemn the law signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in July. "Now it's time for each and every remaining Olympic sponsor to follow their lead. The clock is ticking, and the world is watching."