Australia's graphic tobacco warning labels

australia, smoking, graphic tobacco labels — Getty Images

Australia's High Court upheld the world's toughest law on cigarette advertising Wednesday. Beginning in December, tobacco companies will no longer be able to display their distinctive colors, logos and brand designs in cigarette packs. The new packs, as seen in this image, would only display graphic health warnings, with brand names visible in small font

Tobacco companies had argued the law would damage the value of their brands, while the Australian government hoped the new packs will make smoking as unglamorous as possible.

Tobacco giant Philip Morris sued the Australian government over its tough new law governing cigarette warning labels. Legislators from the "land down under" want their country to be the world's toughest on tobacco advertising, by stripping cigarette packs of colorful pictures and brand logos and replacing them with grisly images of death paired with anti-smoking warnings, according to the Associated Press. Brand names would only be visible in small font.

"This move ... would essentially amount to confiscation of our brand in Australia," said Philip Morris spokeswoman Anne Edwards said at the time. But the government wasn't backing down either. "We're not going to be intimidated by big tobacco's tactics," Prime Minister Julia Gillard told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Here's one of 13 warning labels currently used in Australia. Keep clicking through to see the others.

Here's one of 13 warning labels currently used in Australia

Pack of Australian cigarettes shows graphic images of effects of tobacco — AP Photo/Minister for Health and Ageing

This computer-generated image, provided by the Minister for Health and Ageing of Australia, shows the proposed cigarette packaging that's stripped of all logos and replaced with graphic images, set to be on Australian cigarette packs in December 2012.