History SigilSpam / RealLife

** Apple introduced their symbol keys on the ill-fated Apple /// in 1980; the //e had two Apple keys on either side of the space bar (an open Apple to the left and a closed Apple to the right). The original UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh replaced the logo with the "cloverleaf" symbol (actually a "point of interest" symbol used to mark interesting locations in Swedish campgrounds) specifically to avert this trope: they didn't want the menus on the Macintosh to have Apple logos all over the place, reserving the Apple logo for the systemwide menu at the top left corner of the screen. The Apple symbol nevertheless reappeared on this key in the late 1980s, coexisting with the cloverleaf for well over the decade.

* Some inhabitants fit the trope with [[PatrioticFervor their country flag or country blazon, or even just working the flag/blazon's color/s into a design.]].

* Cigarette ads in Indonesia, to a downright absurd degree. In most streets, you literally cannot look around without spotting at least a half dozen cigarette ads.

* At Ride/DisneyThemeParks, even the manhole covers are emblazoned with the silhouette of MickeyMouse's head. They're called "Hidden Mickeys" and are more of a GeniusBonus RunningGag, a way for designers to leave a subtle signature on their work -- the majority of them are ''very'' well hidden. The pattern of large-oval-with-two-smaller-ovals shows up a ''lot''. Whole books have been written on the topic!

** The most lasting effect, however, is probably in the names of train stations: the main passenger rail terminals in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, UsefulNotes/{{Baltimore}}, UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}}, and [[UsefulNotes/NewJersey Newark]] are all named "Penn Station" (short for "Pennsylvania Station") after the railroad. Most--but not all--of these have the famous keystone in the architecture. (New York Penn Station in particular was completely demolished and rebuilt as a rather dingy, functional underground station in the late 1960s to make way for Madison Square Garden; there are currently plans to rebuild the whole thing and get rid of MSG, but it's unclear if the new station will have the keystone; the most likely plan at this point is partially converting the James Farley Post Office across the street from the Penn Station/MSG complex into a new "New York Moynihan Station" after the New York US Senator and transit advocate, for Amtrak use.[[note]]It's unclear if the Metro-North Railroad, NJ Transit, and the LIRR are even invited into the "Moynihan Station" project, or if they would be interested even if they were.[[/note]])

* Part of the reason why S.P.Q.R. is considered ''the'' IconicLogo of UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire. They put it on absolutely everything they could get away with, from [[UsefulNotes/TheGloryThatWasRome their legion's battle standards]] to storm drain manhole covers.

** At Walt Disney World and Disneyland, [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory Buzz Lightyear]]'s Space Ranger Spin is a ride that involves riding through a course of space monsters, etc. and firing at them to score points. The only spots that register a hit are the very conspicuously placed Zurg symbols on each target.

** Canada is much the same way, putting maple leaves on anything.
*** Taken UpToEleven since their national symbol practically spams itself in autumn in the eastern provinces.

*** The Union Jack does, however, appear on an awful lot of flags from other countries (And Hawaii's, for some odd reason), usually these places used to be part of the British Empire. One only has to look at international sporting event's such as UsefulNotes/TheOlympics to see just how many. It's even worst at the Commomwealth games, where countries that are still own by The UK, compete separately.

* Also from Italy, it's easy to find a five-pointed white star (often with red borders), also known as the Star of Italy, on government-owned things and various patriotic art. It can be found on the Emblem of Italy (both current and the Kingdom's), as figurehead on any Italian Navy ship, as the rank insignia of ''all'' officer ranks in the Army and Carabinieri (they're distinguished by the number, color and disposition of the stars), and on the collar of all military personnel (the exception was Mussolini's ''[[BlackShirt Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale]]'', who, while military personnel, made their oath to the premier (that is, Mussolini himself) and wore fasces on the collar. With the fall of Fascism they were ordered to replace the fasces with stars).

** Apple introduced their symbol keys on the ill-fated Apple /// in 1980; the //e had two Apple keys on either side of the space bar (an open Apple to the left and a closed Apple to the right). The original UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh replaced the logo with the "cloverleaf" symbol (actually called "point of interest" symbol) specifically to avert this trope: they didn't want the menus on the Macintosh to have Apple logos all over the place, reserving the Apple logo for the systemwide menu at the top left corner of the screen. The Apple symbol nevertheless reappeared on this key in the late 1980s, coexisting with the cloverleaf for well over the decade.

** Likewise, many 1980s microcomputers -- such as Commodore's, Apple's, and Atari's -- had similarly branded keys with various functions. Apple eventually replaced theirs with a symbol that looks like a cloverleaf. Atari dropped their symbol key starting with the [=1200XL=] (replacing it with an "Inverse" key).

*** The Union Jack does, however, appear on an awful lot of flags from other countries (And Hawaii's, for some odd reason), usually these places used to be part of the British Empire. One only has to look at international sporting event's such as UsefulNotes/TheOlympics to see just how many. It's even worst at the Commomwealth games, where countries that are still own by The UK complete separately.

** The Union Jack does, however appear to an awful lot of flags from other countries (And Hawaii's, for some odd reason), usually on countries that used to be part of the British Empire. Only have to look at international sporting event's such as UsefulNotes/TheOlympics to see just how many. It's even worst at the Commomwealth games, where countries that are still own by The UK complete separately.

* Historical totalitarian states love this trope, inspiring its use in every {{Dystopia}} ever:

** In the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn USSR]], stars and hammer-and-sickle symbols were absolutely ''everywhere''. And you'll still see them in present-day Russia. Post-communist authorities initially made a great effort to remove them all, then eventually got tired and gave up.

* [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany The Nazis]] loved those hypnotic spinning swastikas so much they put them on just about everything the state had authority over. Even ''canned food''.
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_swastika And a forest]]; nobody seems to know precisely when it happened, or who was responsible, but someone planted a number of larch trees in the middle of a mostly-evergreen forest that formed a swastika when viewed from the air for a few weeks in autumn. The East German government either didn't notice or decided it wasn't worth the time and money to do anything about this, and it wasn't until the 1990s that the trees were cut down. And then ''grew back''. The German government bulldozed the entire site the second time, to be sure.
** And now another even larger one has been noticed in Kyrgyzstan, suspected to be the work of German [=POW=]s trolling their Soviet captors.
** Near the end of the way, Hitler even had the titular trees on Unter den Linden removed and replaced by giant swastikas.
** Post war, during what the U.S. miltary called "Denazification," the symbol was purged from most buildings. Some structures just had to remove a statue -- ranging from some that were blown up, to just the emblem being carved out, as seen on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Adler,_Robert-Piloty-Geb%C3%A4ude,_TU_Darmstadt.jpg this building]]. The Olympic Stadium has some remaining that could not be removed.
* In the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn USSR]], stars and hammer-and-sickle symbols were absolutely ''everywhere''. And you'll still see them in present-day Russia. Post-communist authorities initially made a great effort to remove them all, then eventually got tired and gave up.
** Helped by three facts: a) sometimes it was darn expensive to remove the sigils, and spending the already scarce funds on cosmetic changes when everything goes straight to hell is not the best thing to do, b) virtually ''every'' culture- or government-related structure had various related symbols ''absolutely everywhere'', sometimes with every single decoration being filled with them, upping the cost spectacularly, and c) some of the sigils were just plain too awesome to remove (e.g. the stars on the Moscow Kremlin towers, made from ruby glass and fitted with a complex lighting system). Thus, the ones you will get to see are usually the grandest or the most artful examples of SigilSpam.

* At Ride/DisneyThemeParks, even the manhole covers are emblazoned with the silhouette of MickeyMouse's head. They're called "Hidden Mickeys" and are more of a GeniusBonus RunningGag, a way for designers to leave a subtle signature on their work -- the majority of them are ''very'' well hidden. The pattern of large-oval-with-two-smaller-ovals shows up a ''lot''. The electrical tower shown as the page image is one example. Whole books have been written on the topic!

** The US and Canada (and various states and provinces) seem to have inherited this love from the British, who used to be absolutely enthralled with the Union Jack. They consider it a bit tacky these days, however; WearingAFlagOnYourHead is usually only done ironically and PatrioticFervor became a DiscreditedTrope shortly after UsefulNotes/WorldWarI broke out.

** Likewise, many 1980s microcomputers -- such as Commodore's, Apple's, and Atari's -- had similarly branded keys with various functions. Apple eventually replaced theirs with a symbol that looks like a cloverleaf. (The others just all stopped making computers.)
*** Apple introduced their symbol keys on the //e in 1982, the same year Atari dropped their symbol key starting with the [=1200XL=] (replacing it with an "Inverse" key).
*** Apple replaced the logo by the "cloverleaf" symbol (actually called "point of interest" symbol) specifically to avert this trope: they didn't want the menus on the Macintosh to have Apple logos all over the place.

* Any promotional item with a corporate, division, or other marking on it. The company-branded pens made available at promotional events come to this Troper's mind.