History Main / ChestInsignia

* Franchise/{{Superman}}'s "S" shield, shared by various sidekicks, and parodied repeatedly throughout pop culture.
** His wacky duplicate Bizarro, on the other hand, has a backwards "S" shield that looks almost like a "Z" -- and a backwards spitcurl to boot.
** In ''Superman/Fantastic 4'', Johnny Storm attempts to recruit Superman by offering, "It doesn't take much to make that 'S' into a '5'."
** The symbol has varied in different incarnations. Currently the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Superman is shown with a bloated looking "S". ComicBook/KingdomCome Superman had a more angular stylized "S".
** In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' Clark gets this scorched onto his chest.
** Zibarro, the "imperfect" duplicate of ''Bizarro'' in ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'', has a "Z" instead of a backwards "S". At the end of the story the D.N.A. P.R.O.J.E.C.T. has [[spoiler: a plan to help the world if Superman doesn't come back, concealed behind a door with an "S" shield that looks like a "2"]].
** One-time Superman foes Protector and Radion--who bugged him in the ''Comicbook/KryptonNoMore'' story arc--had chest emblems: a flaming sword and a big red circle crossed by several black lines respectively.
** In ''Comicbook/SupermanBrainiac'', Comicbook/{{Brainiac}} points out that Superman's bio-suit appears to serve no purpose as he touches the S-shield. Superman growls that "My uniform's designed after the Kryptonian flag and my father's family crest".
* ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'':
** Kara shares her cousin's "S" shield--later versions of the Superman mythos have established that it's the emblem of the House of El.
** During her Red Lantern stint in ''Comicbook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'', she wore a modified Red Lantern Corps emblem: a circle and two crooked lines on its right and left sides inside a diamond silhouette.
** Her ''Comicbook/SupergirlRebirth'''s uniform has a modified S-shield. As she's fighting Lar-On, he associates her with the House of El when he sees her emblem.
* Franchise/{{Batman}}:

* Franchise/GreenLantern's namesake -- more stylized for the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] Green Lantern Corps than for Golden Age's Alan Scott.

* Both the various incarnations of Franchise/TheFlash (and [[KidSidekick Kid Flash]] though ComicBook/{{Impulse}} does not use one) uses a lightning bolt insignia.
* ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'': The "Marvel Family" use a giant thunderbolt.
* The new ComicBook/PhantomLady has a triangle insignia on her costume. It's a lot smaller then most insignia -- but then so is her costume.
* The Tasmanian Devil puts an interesting spin on this, as the character transforms into a werebeast form. When he does this, red fur grows over his entire body... except for a white patch on his chest forming the letter "T".
* In ''JSA: Classified'' #2, ComicBook/PowerGirl explains her distinctive (and [[CleavageWindow infamous]]) costume "keyhole" as a kind of anti-insignia: "The first time I made this costume, I wanted to have a symbol, like you. I just... I couldn't think of anything. I thought eventually, I'd figure it out. And close the hole. But I haven't."

* The [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Crimson Avenger, after he abandoned his CivvieSpandex, wore a costume with a sunburst on the chest. The modern Crimson Avenger claims this was a stylized bullet hole; her own CivvieSpandex has a realistic blood-splatter.
* Both Liberty Belles wear an image of, surprise surprise, the Liberty Bell. Johnny Quick (husband of the first and father of the second), had a pair of wings on his costume.
* The reboot version of Lar Gand of the ''Comicbook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' wore [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Legionnaires37Monel.jpg a costume with an insignia]] that could be seen as either an "M" for M'onel (his 30th century CodeName) or "V" for Valor (his 20th century one). Various other Legionnaires also wear or have worn chest insignias, such as Sun Boy's sunburst and Timber Wolf's stylized wolf head.
** By the post-''ComicBook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime'' continuity, if not before, it became standard for all Legionnaires to wear a belt buckle with the Legion's insignia, an L and star inside a circle.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman''

* The various ComicBook/{{OMAC}}s all have an eye symbol on their chests, representing their connection to orbiting satellite Brother Eye.
* As pictured above, ''ComicBook/{{Hawkman}}'' has one, despite not actually having a shirt or top to wear it on, which on its own should be an indication of the importance of the trope.

* ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's white star, though the pattern on his shield and the A on his forehead are also pretty emblematic of him.

* The Comicbook/FantasticFour's 4-in-circle.

** Arachne, another spider-themed female hero, uses the Venom-style design. In fact, her costume, back when she was the current Spider Woman, was the inspiration for Peter's original black costume.
* A particularly extreme form of insignia is the dragon symbol sported by Comicbook/IronFist -- actually an exotic burned-in scar received during his origin story. Previous Iron Fists have had it in other places. A villain who hates the Iron Fist legacy tried to burn the symbol off Danny's body.
* Guardian, leader of the Canadian superteam ComicBook/AlphaFlight, has a large red maple leaf that wraps around the left side of his chest. At one point, the whole team got similar uniforms.
* ComicBook/ThePunisher sports a prominent skull on his chest -- like Batman's symbol, a heavily armored target.

** Similarly, Phoenix (Jean Grey) sported an abstract, triangular bird shape. The "light" Phoenix version was a small phoenix in a black triangle, whereas the Dark Phoenix showed a very large emblem which covered nearly her entire torso. Double-subverterd by the earliest version of Rachel Summers, who initially wore her emblem-less Hound costume, but she eventually switched over to the traditional Phoenix costume. But she went with the Dark Phoenix version despite not being remotely evil because [[RuleOfCool it looked cooler]].
* {{Gravity|Master}} has a circle with four arrows pointing inward. There was a RunningGag where everyone who saw him mistook him for an X-Man, to his confusion; it turns out that it was because his symbol looks sort of like a stylized "X."
* Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} has two interlocked Ds. His original costume, however, had just the one.
* ComicBook/MsMarvel has a large lightning bolt across her chest. As Captain Marvel, she has a small starburst. The 2014 ComicBook/{{Ms Marvel|2014}} also has the lightning bolt across her chest.
* ComicBook/ShangChi villain Shen Kuei, aka The Cat, has a large black cat tattooed onto his chest.
* ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'s, erm, "Deadpool Symbol" (a simplified version of his mask), makes an appearance on his belt buckle, his weapons, his boxers and on the center of many of his shirts.
* Generally averted by Creator/RobLiefeld's creations, who are instead identifiable as superheroes by their [[TooManyBelts many belts]], [[HeroicBuild improbable]] [[BodyHorror anatomies]], ShouldersOfDoom, and thousands upon thousands of pockets. Nevertheless, a few -- like Shatterstar -- do go in for a Chest Insignia.
* ComicBook/TheMightyThor and ComicBook/IronMan have costume details which serve this purpose. The former has the six circles on his chest plate, while the latter has the uni-beam, which is usually circular or pentagonal.
* ComicBook/NormanOsborn's Iron Patriot armor also has a Uni-Beam, shaped like a star. This feature ironically causes the Uni-Beam to overheat after multiple uses, used to the advantage of Spider-Man in their most recent fight.
* Jamie Madrox, aka {{M|esACrowd}}ultiple [[SomethingPerson Man]], has "spots connected by lines" that were originally part of an impact-reducing full-body suit but have since [[CivvieSpandex retreated]] to the chest.
* Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan, has an inverted five-pointed star within a circle tattooed on his chest. He [[WalkingShirtlessScene usually goes shirtless]] to keep it on display.
* In his full garb as Sorcerer Supreme, Comicbook/DoctorStrange's typical tunic has a blue 'demon' with upstretched arms. His new wardrobe in the 2011 revival of ''ComicBook/TheDefenders'' has a red trident-like symbol which resembles it.

* Mike Baron & Steve Rude's space hero Comicbook/{{Nexus}} has a lightning bolt symbol, off to one side.

* Played with in Dave M. Strom's [[https://davemstrom.wordpress.com/tag/super-holly-hansson/ "Super Holly Hansson" stories]]. Her chest insignia, positioned directly over the [[MostCommonSuperpower impressive bust]] she developed when she got superpowers is [[MyEyesAreUpHere an upward-pointing arrow]].

* The 2005 redesign of the US Army's battle uniform, known as the [=ACU=], moved soldiers' rank insignia from the collar to the middle of the chest. Members of the Chaplin Corps also wear their insignia on the right side of their chests, above their identifying name tape; which is allowed uniquely for chaplains.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'' contains a notable example: While the police officers Castle works with have the usual "POLICE" on their bulletproof vests, Castle had one made which says "WRITER" instead.

* The [[GreaterScopeVillain Bigger Bad]] of ''WesternAnimation/TheThiefAndTheCobbler'', the One Eye, as well as his entire army, sport their symbol, a single eye with a red iris surrounded by black thunderbolts, on their chest armor.
* Turned up in the original ''WesternAnimation/{{ThunderCats|1985}}'': the Thundercats themselves had the roaring-jaguar insignia that the Eye of Thundera projects, and Mumm-Ra sported an insignia ''on his bare chest'' depicting intertwined serpents.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'': The BlueBlood, RoyalBlood and soldiers of Thundera all sport large red cabochons on their clothing, either chest or belt-mounted, and their shields, meant to evoke their PowerCrystal, the Eye of Thundera. It's even present on a Thunderian [[Art/TheSphinx Sphinx]]. The Cat-headed logo carried over from the original ''is'' the royal emblem, seen in the castle throne room, and projected as a BatSignal, but does not appear on armor or clothing, in part as a deliberate effort to [[AvertedTrope avert]] instances of the UnreliableIllustrator.

* Liberally doused the [[WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes2006]] cartoon. Every characher wore a ring and belt with the legion insignia and each character had a symbol that reflected their powers. If they didn't have the symbol on their chests, it still showed up in the show intro and several times during the show, usually on computer screens.

* Liberally doused the ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' cartoon. Every characher wore a ring and belt with the legion insignia and each character had a symbol that reflected their powers. If they didn't have the symbol on their chests, it still showed up in the show intro and several times during the show, usually on computer screens.

Almost universally in the earlier eras, and in many cases today, the logo is centered and covers at least half the space available; a variant, that appears more and more frequently nowadays, has it shrunk down and off-center like a police badge, or on a belt buckle. Symbols on back, shoulders, or even forehead are less common, but still viable. Symbols on the legs or feet are extremely rare and usually only on characters with [[{{Stripperiffic}} costumes too skimpy to fit them anywhere else]]. Copyright-holders soon realized that these insignia were marketing gold, in that fans of the characters were more consistently attracted to the insignia than the faces of the characters themselves; a valuable realization when different performers were chosen to portray the characters for various reasons. In addition, it's often easier to slap a stylized letter or icon onto merchandise, since it might look creepy when trying to incorporate character faces onto merchandise. The rare occasions where character faces are used as insignias almost always involve masked or clearly inhuman characters. Even then, the insignia tends to be heavily stylized and simplified representation of the face/mask or a silhouette with only their most identifiable features or accessories depicted.

* Izuku's Ranger forms in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14073644/1/ The Echo Ranger]]'' have a chest insignia on the chest armor that changes depending on which mode is active, matching the symbol in their respective original Power Coins. Thus, Mode Green has the Dragon Coin, Mode White the White Tiger Coin, and Mode Black the Black Brachio Coin.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
** ComicBook/SpiderMan's spider at the center of his costume's web-pattern. (He also sports a more abstract spider on the back of it.)

** Arachne, another spider-themed female hero, uses the Venom-style design. In fact her costume, back when she was the current Spider Woman, was the inspiration for Peter's original black costume.

* The Comicbook/XMen have an X in circle logo. It usually isn't in the middle of their chest, but it still counts.