History Main / ChestInsignia

* All of Ben's alien forms in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' have the Omnitrix symbol on them somewhere, usually the chest, but the shoulder, forehead, and wrist are also common options. Grey Matter is the form with the oddest placement. It's much larger than usual given Grey Matter's small size, but on his back, where it's not usually visible. Justified in that the symbol basically ''is'' the ImportedAlienPhlebotinum that lets him turn into those alien forms.

*** The Plumbers in Alien Force and Ultimate Alien have badges (identical to Ben's Omnitrix symbol, which was likely based off the Plumbers') that they wear on the chests of their armor.

Compare HighlyConspicuousUniform (the military version of this trope), SymbolMotifClothing.

** As does the current {{Batwoman}}. The original Bat-Woman and Bat-Girl didn't, though.

** This is done for maximum horrific effect in ''BlackestNight'' among the Black Lanterns. When a corpse rises as a Black Lantern, the Black Hand symbol (a downward-pointing triangle with five lines coming from the top) is always incorporated into their new costume; sometimes in extremely imaginative ways (for instance, Black Lantern Superman has his S-shield as the triangle).
* Both the various incarnations of the {{Flash}} and the {{Shazam}} "Marvel Family" use a lightning bolt insignia.
* the new PhantomLady has a triangle insigma on her costume. Its a lot smaller then most of insigmia-but then so is her costume.

* {{Daredevil}} has two interlocked Ds. His original costume, however, had just the one.

* The French superhero ''Superdupont'', created by Creator/MarcelGotlieb, has an insignia with the letters "SD" inside a tricolore (blue-white-red) cockade.

* TheAstoundingWolfMan has his wolf insignia on his bulletproof armor.
* The French superhero ''Superdupont'', created by [[{{Gotlib}} Marcel Gotlieb]], has an insignia with the letters "SD" inside a tricolore (blue-white-red) cockade.

* 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 ''TheDefenders'' has a red trident-like symbol which resembles it.

* WonderWoman, for most of her history, has had a soaring eagle on the top of her one-piece. In 1982 it was replaced it with concentric W's (explained in-story as the logo of the "Wonder Woman Foundation" and, PostCrisis, as Diana Trevor's WAFS insignia). The eagle has recently returned.

* {{Thor}} 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.

* And then there was the Hurricane (Gregory Helms), whose gimmick was of a superhero. Naturally, he wore a 'hurricane' symbol with an H in the centre on his costume. His sidekick Rosie, once he 'graduated', sported an R. Since Rosie was about twice the size of Hurricane, his R was about twice as big as Hurricane's symbol.

* In a direct reference to the Superman "S" shield, indy wrestler Chris Hero sports a Superman-style shield with the letters "CH" in it.

** Notably, [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers the original Ranger team]] only had the belt buckle versions (except for the White Ranger), though the trope was apparently powerful enough that they got moved to the chest for the merchandising and in [[Film/MightyMorphinPowerRangers the movie]].

** His wacky duplicate [[BizarroUniverse Bizarro]], on the other hand, has a backwards "S" shield that looks almost like a "Z" -- and a backwards spitcurl to boot.

[[quoteright:300:[[{{Hawkman}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Hawkman_and_world_1182.jpg]]]]

* The [[UltraSeries many versions]] of the Japanese {{Superhero}} ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'' always have a light on his chest, which flashes to indicate how much energy he has remaining.

* Guardian, leader of the Canadian superteam 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.

** Zibarro, the "imperfect" duplicate of ''Bizarro'' in ''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"]].

[-[[caption-width-right:300:Chest insignias are obligatory. Shirts are optional.]

[-[[caption-width-right:300:Chest insignias are obligatory. Shirts are optional. As are nipples, apparently...[[FridgeBrilliance oh wait, birds don't suckle their young!]]]]-]

** These resemble (seemingly by design) the bows often seen on the chests of other {{Magical Girl}}s, including their predecessors in the [[Anime/FutariWaPrettyCure two]] [[Anime/FutariWaPrettyCureSplashStar previous]] ''Anime/PrettyCure'' continuities (as well as [[Manga/SailorMoon some others]] you [[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha might have heard of]]). Not ''quite'' a ChestInsignia, and not a reliable indicator by any stretch, but if you're the MonsterOfTheWeek and you meet a girl in with a bow on her chest, you should probably flee.

* Generally averted by 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 ChestInsignia.

* There's the "i" in an oval sported by ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles''. Even the villain Syndrome sported an "S" that covered his entire torso. Interestingly, during the lawsuits that force Mr Incredible and other supers into hiding, Mr. Incredible's defense lawyer covers his ChestInsignia with a hand. This makes sense in context, given that Mr. Incredible is an identity defined by said logo.

* Many incarnations of the ''SuperSentai''/''Franchise/PowerRangers'' feature ChestInsignia. Sometimes it's a team logo, sometimes it's a personal one. A few have the smaller offset-to-the-side version. Logo belt buckles are also used but they're generally not as visible.

* KamenRiderOOO has one which changes depending on which Core Medals are currently in use.
* [[SaturdayNightLive The Ambiguously Gay Duo]] have G for Gary and A for Ace. Unsurprisingly, there happened to be times when they had to stand next to something large and Y-shaped.

* Bret Hart had the winged-skull-inside-a-heart
* Kurt Angle sported an "A" inside a pentagonal shield for Kurt Angle--meant to evoke Superman's famous S-shield
* The distinctive "nASh" across the chest of Kevin Nash.

* And then there was the Hurricane (Gregory Helms), whose gimmick was thinking he was a superhero. Naturally, he wore a 'hurricane' symbol with an H in the centre on his costume. His sidekick Rosie, once he 'graduated', sported an R. Since Rosie was about twice the size of Hurricane, his R was about twice as big as Hurricane's symbol.

* {{TNA}} wrestler Suicide has his full name in block lettering written over a vaguely M-shaped logo on his chest.

* Parodied in the live-action series of ''TheTick''. Captain Liberty's chest insignia is a star cut out of her uniform, revealing some fine Fan Service underneath (compare PowerGirl). The supervillain Destroyo even makes light of this the episode "The Tick v Justice" -- referring to her insignia as "your star full of cleavage."

* The [[UltraSeries many versions]] of the Japanese {{Superhero}} ''{{Ultraman}}'' always have a light on his chest, which flashes to indicate how much energy he has remaining.

The universal formula for depicting a character to be instantly recognizable as "a superhero" of some sort: put them in reasonably form-fitting clothes, and then add a prominent symbol on the chest.

* All of the bread-headed superheros from ''{{Franchise/Anpanman}}'' have a symbol to represent them in some way. Anpanman has a smiley face, Currypanman's is a lemon-shaped smiley face with a neutral expression, Shokupanman has an angular "S", Melonpanna has a lowercase "M", Creampanda a "C", and Rollpanna two hearts (one red, the other blue to represent both of her hearts).

* In ''TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'', after Bob very briefly becomes a SuperHero and then loses his powers, he says his one real regret is that he used a permanent laundry marker to make the "B" logo on his shirt.

[-[[caption-width-right:300:Chest insignias are obligatory. Shirts are optional. As are nipples, apparently; oh wait, birds don't suckle their young]]-]

[-[[caption-width-right:300:Chest insignias are obligatory. Shirts are optional. As are nipples, apparently.]]-]

* A particularly extreme form of insignia is the dragon symbol sported by [[ImmortalIronFist Iron Fist]] -- 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.

Recently there has been a trend (particularly with less [[BadassNormal "super" characters]]) of justifying the symbol by having it attract gunfire towards the torso (which is easier to armour), such as with ''{{Batman}}'' and ''ThePunisher''.

* Comicbook/{{Batman}}'s bat silhouette. This was lampshaded in ''TheDarkKnightReturns'', where Batman admits that the famous bright yellow background is, obviously, a great big target. He then goes on to explain that he did it because he "can't armor my head".

** And {{Robin}}'s off-center "R" in a circle.

* ''LazyTown's'' resident "slightly above average hero", the unfeasibly athletic, blue-bespandexed Sportacus, [[IncrediblyLamePun sports]] a chest badge that reads "10". The number indicates his heritage (he's tenth in a line of similar protectors) and carries connotations of his being a "team player".