In 1957, athletes of all ages from Flint, Michigan and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada participated in an amateur athletic weekend designed to promote fellowship and cultural understanding between two cities and countries. The program was named the Canusa Games in recognition of the two great countries represented in this competition.
In 1972, representatives of the Indianapolis Parks and Recreation and Flanner House joined efforts to create an annual international amateur athletic program, resembling the Canusa Games, for Marion County athletes. After countless hours of research and many meetings, representatives from the two Indianapolis Organizations and a delegation from Scarborough, Canada met on January 27, 1973 to finalize plans for such a program.
One of the items left to resolve was the selection of a name for this new program. Several Canadian and American cities had already followed the example set by the Canusa Games; and had developed similar amateur athletic exchanges. Each had used some form of the names of their two countries in naming their program - Canus, Canamer, Canemera.
After much discussion, those present agreed this new program should be named "Peace Games" since the meeting and official proclamation of the Games' name occurred on the very day that the Vietnam Peace Treaty was signed by President Richard Nixon; and one of the primary goals was to foster peace and understanding through this international amateur athletic exchange.
On August 9, 1973, nineteen chartered buses filled with hundreds of Marion County athletes aged 10-60, departed Indianapolis for a 10-hour, 550-mile trip to Scarborough, Canada, to compete in the 1st Indianapolis-Scarborough Peace Games international competition.
The Peace Games today remain the only annual international multi-sport event in Indiana.
The Indianapolis Peace Games was awarded the 1999 Sister Cities International "Best Youth Program".