This article was considered for deletion and requires cleanup according to the discussion.
Please help improve this article to meet Wikipedia's quality standards or discuss the issue on the talk page. (April 2008)
This article does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (April 2008)

A cultural icon can be an image, a symbol, a logo, picture, name, face, person, or building or other image that is readily recognised, and generally represents an object or concept with great cultural significance to a wide cultural group. A representation of an object or person, or that object or person may come to be regarded as having a special status as particularly representative of, or important to, or loved by, a particular group of people, a place, or a period in history.

Contents

[edit] Icons and persons

Human beings can acquire cultural iconic status through their actions, achievements, role, beliefs, convictions.

Che Guevara, symbol of rebellion and revolution

Mahatma Gandhi, a symbol of non-violence

Casablanca, symbolises a human being's conflict between love and virtue

Iconic figures can emerge in social groupings (Gay icon, Pop icon), political parties, among fans of a particular sport or type of music.

Some images may be quite well known, though their name may not be familiar, or even the person depicted may be unknown, as is the case with La Gioconda. In other cases, a name such as Shakespeare may bring to mind a well-known portrait of that person.

[edit] Icons and brands

  • Lessons from Cultural Icons - How to Create an Iconic Brand [4] suggests that brands can reflect societal values and changes, but many people have become weary of them. Many brands aspire to become cultural icons, but fail. Cultural icons are often timeless, imprinted in our consciousness. They can go through several stages, from "rumblings, undercurrents" via "catharsis, explosion" and "mass acceptance, ripple effect" to "glorification, representative value". While brands are rational and driven by features, cultural icons are emotional, free, driven by feeling, and creating emotional bonds.

[edit] Cultural icons worldwide

Cultural icons may be national, regional or related to a city, and they can symbols for a nation, or can evoke particular values held by that state. For example, France uses Marianne as a symbol of the French Revolution and the rejection of royalism in favour of republicanism and laicity.

[edit] Australia

Koala bear

Anzac Day

Great Barrier Reef

Sydney Opera House

[edit] Belgium

[edit] Brasil

[edit] Bulgaria

[edit] Canada

[edit] China

The Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in 2008 [15] featured a number of cultural icons:

Chinese characters

Great Wall of China

Dragon boat racing

Terracotta Warriors

[edit] Egypt

[edit] Estonia

  • Baltika Folklore Festival

[edit] France

La Gioconda

Marianne

Napoléon Bonaparte

[edit] Germany

Brandenburg Gate

Cologne Cathedral

Fall of the Berlin Wall

Oktoberfest, the world's biggest beer festival

[edit] India

Agra Fort World Heritage site

Bengal tiger

Taj Mahal

Indian film

[edit] Ireland

  • Art and architecture:
  • Food and drink:Guinness

Book of Kells

Giant's Causeway

[edit] Israel

[edit] Italy

Colosseum

Cristoforo Colombo (Christopher Columbus)

Pasta

Luciano Pavarotti

[edit] Jamaica

[edit] Japan

Kimono

[edit] Latvia

[edit] Liechtenstein

[edit] Lithuania

[edit] Luxembourg

  • Country profile [37]

[edit] Netherlands

[edit] Monaco

[edit] Palestine

[edit] Portugal

[edit] Romania

Nadia Comaneci

Ilie Nastase

Constantin Brancusi

Endless Column by Brancusi

[edit] Spain

Giant paella

The victors of the Battle of Lepanto

El Cid

Teresa of Avila

[edit] Switzerland

[edit] United Kingdom

  • The Scottish Government has established a new scheme to honour the nation's most successful artists and cultural icons [50].
  • A Welsh Assembly minister has issued a report in May 2008 which calls for maximisation of the potential of Wales's cultural icons [51].

William Shakespeare, Chandos portrait

Remembrance Day poppy

Robert Burns

Pillar box

[edit] United States

Motherhood and Apple Pie

John F. Kennedy

Bob Dylan

Marilyn Monroe

[edit] See also