A Mountie is a good one. Like you said, with bigger countries having one landmark is pretty much impossible.
and polar bears.
Iceland has lava fields.
Yeah, that (and a lack of trees) is what most people comment on when they arrive.
I think it’s a little offensive to refer to him that way.
The netherlands has windmills (mostly out in the country), and lots of bikes (mostly in the cities). Judging from google images, the windmills are the most typical.
Hmm. How about the Acropolis for Greece? More of an identifying mark than a ‘I’m finally home,’ but of all the stuff there, its arguably the most famous and one of the coolest.
When I think of Germany, I think Brandenburg Gate. But were I a German, I think I’d know I was home once I saw the Autobahn.
Once I see the patchwork quilt of farmland from the plane, I know I’m almost home!
Venice has a dude rowing a gondola in a canal.
Scotland has steep rolling green hills near a gloomy loch with lots of sheep running around and bagpipe music playing in the background.
Kuala Lupur has the Patronas Towers
Norway has the Fjords.
Taj Mahal for India.
Christ the Redeemer for Brazil.
Machu Pichu for Peru.
A mountain of cocaine for Colombia.
Knowing you’re in England depends on your age:
60+ = sipping a cup of tea watching cricket
40+ = discussing Premiership League football and mortgages
20+ = playing Texas Hold’em whilst texting your mates
Teenagers will either be studying for endless exams sipping energy drinks or getting drunk in front of CCTV cameras…
I agree about the enormous country part, the Hopewell Rocks or the Hartland Covered Bridge say “home” to me but don’t really have relevance outside of New Brunswick. But I still think there’s something to be said for Ottawa (capital city) and Toronto (largest city) landmarks (as evidenced by the fact that I thought of them, even though I hail from NB :p).
However, I do find myself agreeing with you, Mounties are pretty undeniably Canadian, eh?
Giles has already said but much to the annoyance of everyone not living in Sydney, shorthand for Australia pretty much means the shot of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.
I’m confused by the question. If it’s a sight that tells people from that country that they’re home, how can it possibly be one single landmark? Even for a small- or medium-sized country one landmark can’t do the job, much less for huge countries like Canada, the US, or Australia.
Or is the question just supposed to be what landmark best visually represents a country in peoples’ minds?
Okay then, Reginald Dwight.
But seriously, he has publicly referred to himself as a Queen or a Bitch.
What about Montreal? I know seeing the Five Roses Farine and the skyline always make me think of Canada 
The palace in Lhasa for Tibet.
The big stone at Mecca for Saudi Arabia.
The Brandenburg gate for Germany.
Windmills for Holland.
The Acropolis for Greece.
The Blue Mosque for Turkey.
Jerusalem for Israel.
Angkor Watt for Cambodia.
Mannekin Pis for Belgium
Table Mountain for South Africa
The Little Mermaid for Denmark
Plaza de Maestranza for Spain
Coming in to land in Edinburgh the first landmark I tend to spot is The Forth Bridge.
When I got back to Scotland after living abroad for a while, on my first day back I was waiting for a bus home in Edinburgh’s Princes Street and was passed by a man in a Celtic shirt shouting at the top of his voice “I WILL FIGHT ANYONE”.
When I got on the bus, the man sitting next to me was drinking a can of super-strength lager.
“Home sweet home”, I thought.
What Rodgers01 said, are we talking about “images people from a country associate with it” or “images people from outside of a country associate with it”?
I know “Mounties” for Canada works for me, but I can’t distinguish La Maestranza from the arena in my own hometown (well, I can recognize the one in my hometown from the buildings surrounding it, but I wouldn’t have known that particular ring was the one in Madrid if the link hadn’t named it); since we’re not the only country with bullrings and I’m not much of a bullfighter’s fan, I don’t associate bullrings with Spain - foreigners do. An image of folks in red’n’whites mixed with bulls, or of la Sagrada Familia, or Cibeles… those, yes, those work for me.
I’m mostly talking about visual shorthand that, say, a cinematograhper in a movie would use to quickly establish that “this is the country where this action takes place.” For example, if Bond was in Singapore, an establishing shot might show the Merlion. If he was in Italy, an establishing shot might show St. Mark’s Cathedral.