# Americans Have Statue of Liberty; The English Have White Cliffs of Dover; What Else? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 21, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334 "2009-01-21T18:27:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334/1 "2009-01-21T18:27:32Z")
What means of visual shorthand do other countries have to signify “you’re home”? I suppose for the Japanese it would be Mt. Fuji, for the French it would be either the Eiffel Tower or the Arc de Trimophe. What else? \*I chose the White Cliffs of Dover for England for several reasons. First is the song from WWII; second is the scene in _Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves_ where Robin didn’t get excited about being home until he saw the cliffs; third is the scene in _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_ (movie) where the Quidditch World Cup took place near the cliffs. ---
**Author:** ![Ruminator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Ruminator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruminator)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334/2 "2009-01-21T18:39:57Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > I chose the White Cliffs of Dover for England for several reasons. I would think England would be associated more with London Bridge (Tower Bridge) or Big Ben rather than Cliffs of Dover. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334/3 "2009-01-21T18:41:44Z")
> [@Ruminator](#): > > I would think England would be associated more with London Bridge (Tower Bridge) or Big Ben rather than Cliffs of Dover. We have some London bridge in Lake Havasu city, Az. I can remember when it was imported . ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334/4 "2009-01-21T18:46:12Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > What means of visual shorthand do other countries have to signify “you’re home”? I’m an American and I’ve never seen the Statue of Liberty. I’m going to go with “this is a vast oversimplification”. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334/5 "2009-01-21T18:47:48Z")
Australia as a whole: Uluru (or Ayer’s Rock). Sydney (and New South Wales): the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334/6 "2009-01-21T18:50:58Z")
How about The Queen? No respect for Elton John around here? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334/7 "2009-01-21T19:57:56Z")
> [@Ruminator](#): > > London Bridge (Tower Bridge) BTW, [London Bridge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge) and [Tower Bridge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_Bridge) are some distance apart. I agree it’s frustrating: famous bridge named London, famous bridge that’s a symbol of London, but they’re two different bridges. London Bridge is actually kind of unprepossessing. For Canada, the best I can do is the Centre Block of Parliament. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334/8 "2009-01-21T19:59:24Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > BTW, [London Bridge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge) and [Tower Bridge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_Bridge) are some distance apart. I agree it’s frustrating: famous bridge named London, famous bridge that’s a symbol of London, but they’re two different bridges. London Bridge is actually kind of unprepossessing. In addition to the children’s game called London Bridge where you hold your hands together like Tower Bridge. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334/9 "2009-01-21T20:27:11Z")
If you are looking for instant establishing shots (like in old movies) Italy would probably be the Coliseum or maybe the Tower of Pisa. India would probably be the Taj Mahal Russia, the Kremlin ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334/10 "2009-01-21T21:38:53Z")
France has the Eiffel Tower. ---
**Author:** ![evilhomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/43a26b/32.png) [@evilhomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhomer)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334/11 "2009-01-21T21:42:50Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > For Canada, the best I can do is the Centre Block of Parliament. How about the CN Tower? Toronto-centric, I know, but it always seems to pop up on those maps that show various landmarks. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334/12 "2009-01-21T21:51:51Z")
Mexico would be the pyramids. I have no idea what it would be for Egypt. 😉 China would be the Great Wall. Switzerland would be a guy on a mountain blowing one of those enormous horns. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334/13 "2009-01-21T22:19:12Z")
Coming into land at Belfast City Airport, you’ll see the cranes at Harland and Wolff to your port side. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334/14 "2009-01-22T00:17:29Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > I’m an American and I’ve never seen the Statue of Liberty. I’m going to go with “this is a vast oversimplification”. Indeed. If I saw that out of my plane window instead of the Golden Gate Bridge, “I’m home” would be the last thing I would say. ---
**Author:** ![Euryphaessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Euryphaessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euryphaessa)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334/15 "2009-01-22T00:25:21Z")
> [@evilhomer](#): > > How about the CN Tower? Toronto-centric, I know, but it always seems to pop up on those maps that show various landmarks. No, silly. Canada only has igloos. Seriously though, yeah. Probably CN Tower, although the Parliament buildings were my first thought. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334/16 "2009-01-22T01:53:00Z")
> [@Queen of Town](#): > > Seriously though, yeah. Probably CN Tower, although the Parliament buildings were my first thought. One of the problems of having an enormous country: Ontario landmarks mean very little to the Western provinces and (I imagine) the Atlantic provinces; and while the Parliament Buildings are visible from the Quebec side of the Ottawa River, I doubt that the CN Tower would mean much to a Quebecer. I’d suggest a Mountie. They patrol from coast to coast, and even in the provinces that don’t use them as provincial police force, the Mounties still have a presence in certain federal buildings and installations. No matter where I enter Canada, when I see a Mountie, I know I’m home (even though I may still have 3000 miles to travel). ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334/17 "2009-01-22T01:59:56Z")
Brazil has the enormous statue of Jesus in Rio. > **[Christ the Redeemer (statue)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_the_Redeemer_(statue))** > > Christ The Redeemer (Portuguese: Cristo Redentor, standard .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Brazilian Portuguese: \[ˈkɾistu ʁedẽˈtoʁ\]) is an Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, created by French sculptor Paul Landowski and built by Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, in collaboration with French engineer ... ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334/18 "2009-01-22T02:02:13Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > No matter where I enter Canada, when I see a Mountie, I know I’m home (even though I may still have 3000 miles to travel). On that note, I suggest “crowds of overweight/obese people with no fashion sense” for the US’ symbol. Whether I fly in through LAX, ORD, DTW, or ATL, I see crowds of overweight families wearing Garfield and/or Mickey Mouse t-shirts, sucking down 32oz sodas and immediately think, “Damn, it feels good to be home.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334/19 "2009-01-22T02:19:57Z")
> [@Ruminator](#): > > I would think England would be associated more with London Bridge (Tower Bridge) or Big Ben rather than Cliffs of Dover. Or Stonehenge. Russia has the Kremlin, or Saint Basil’s. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334/20 "2009-01-22T02:20:02Z")
Singapore has the Merlion, China the great wall, Egypt the pyramids. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-have-statue-of-liberty-the-english-have-white-cliffs-of-dover-what-else/482334.md?page=2)