# Iconic Symbols for Australian Cities **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 2, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-symbols-for-australian-cities/538076 "2010-05-02T22:53:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-symbols-for-australian-cities/538076/21 "2010-05-04T07:38:19Z")
> [@Great\_Dave](#): > > Seattle and the Space Needle, perhaps? Probably. But just having a tall tower is no guarantee of world-famousness. For instance, San Antonio has the somewhat taller [Tower of the Americas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_the_Americas), yet I doubt most people outside the San Antonio region would recognize it. And in looking up that Wiki page I found a link to Las Vegas’ [Stratosphere](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratosphere_Tower) which I’d never heard of before, even though it’s taller. How many people would recognize the [CN Tower](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CN_Tower%5B/url)? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-symbols-for-australian-cities/538076/22 "2010-05-04T07:54:17Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > … and don’t forget the Giant Carrot in Ohakune and the giant L & P bottle in Paeroa! > > [Ohakune - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohakune) > > [Lemon & Paeroa - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_&_Paeroa) (World famous…in New Zealand, of course) Cromwell beats that carrot with no less than [4 pieces of fruit](http://www.new-zealand-pictures.co.nz/cromwell-town-welcome-sign-central-otago-new-zealand-1845-pictures.htm) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-symbols-for-australian-cities/538076/23 "2010-05-04T07:58:52Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > How many people would recognize the CN Tower? Rats! Messed up the url. Try this one: [CN Tower](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CN_Tower) ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-symbols-for-australian-cities/538076/24 "2010-05-04T08:04:26Z")
My home town has this: [http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3076/2637939412\_d91bce6594.jpg](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3076/2637939412_d91bce6594.jpg) Nothing beats _ute onna stick_ ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-symbols-for-australian-cities/538076/25 "2010-05-04T10:56:31Z")
> [@madrabbitwoman](#): > > My home town has this: [http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3076/2637939412\_d91bce6594.jpg](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3076/2637939412_d91bce6594.jpg) > > Nothing beats _ute onna stick_ Though [shark inna roof](http://www.flickr.com/photos/allybeag/2091718663/) has to be close. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-symbols-for-australian-cities/538076/26 "2010-05-04T11:24:39Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > While we all know Paris, Athens and Berlin, what is the iconic landmark of Brussels, Sofia or Vienna right next door? I would be surprised if most people didn’t know which of these cities [this](http://image42.webshots.com/43/3/22/9/2103322090039385380iKvzRC_ph.jpg) is in. [ETA crap, the link doesn’t work, it’s meant to be the Mannequin Pis.] By the way, which cities are Sofia or Vienna right next door to? Vienna’s as far from Paris as Chicago is from New York. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-symbols-for-australian-cities/538076/27 "2010-05-04T12:46:22Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > On an international level, i think you’re right. Other Australian capital cities just don’t have recognizable landmarks on the scale and distinctiveness of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. > > For Melbourne, at least for Australians, something like the Melbourne Cricket Ground… Wouldn’t it be wonderful if, after the 2012 olympics, England donated [this piece](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/01/arcelormittal-orbit-photo_n_520223.html) to Melbourne as a symbol of England’s solidarity with the Commonwealth? You could rename it “Flight of the Boomerang.” ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-symbols-for-australian-cities/538076/28 "2010-05-06T12:39:17Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > Surely Washington would be recognizable, from at least one of: the White House, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, or Capitol Hill. Never heard of them. 😉 > [@Scheidt-Hoch](#): > > I would be surprised if most people didn’t know which of these cities [this](http://image42.webshots.com/43/3/22/9/2103322090039385380iKvzRC_ph.jpg) is in. [ETA crap, the link doesn’t work, it’s meant to be the Mannequin Pis.] I would be astounded if more than one person in a thousand could tell you what city that is in. I only recognise the sculpture itself because it has been overused in kitsch art, such as pissing soda into whiskey glasses or hideous concrete lawn ornaments. I always assumed there was an original, but until I just looked it up I had no idea where it was located. I find it really, really hard to believe that 1% of the population would even recognise the statue, much less be able to tell you where it is. Let’s face it, there are at least 1000 artworks that are more famous, and virtually nobody knows where any are located. > [@](#): > > By the way, which cities are Sofia or Vienna right next door to? Vienna’s as far from Paris as Chicago is from New York. Cities? Who mentioned cities? They are the capitals of nations adjoining Germany in one instance, and approximately halfway between Greece and Germany in the other. Berlin is the capital of Germany. Athens is the capital of Germany. The point being that people can recognise landmarks in a handful of capitals cities, but are unable to visually identify other capitals even in the same region. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-symbols-for-australian-cities/538076/29 "2010-05-06T14:24:43Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > Smaller towns in Oz do rather better - with our national obsession with “The big XXX”. > > Kingston - the big lobster > Tamworth - the big guitar > Gumeracca - the big rocking horse > Coffs Harbour - the big bananna So? Flanders, NY has the [Big Duck](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Duck). ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-symbols-for-australian-cities/538076/30 "2010-05-06T14:41:08Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Never heard of them. 😉 > > I would be astounded if more than one person in a thousand could tell you what city that is in. I only recognise the sculpture itself because it has been overused in kitsch art, such as pissing soda into whiskey glasses or hideous concrete lawn ornaments. I always assumed there was an original, but until I just looked it up I had no idea where it was located. > > I find it really, really hard to believe that 1% of the population would even recognise the statue, much less be able to tell you where it is. Let’s face it, there are at least 1000 artworks that are more famous, and virtually nobody knows where any are located. > > Cities? Who mentioned cities? They are the capitals of nations adjoining Germany in one instance, and approximately halfway between Greece and Germany in the other. Berlin is the capital of Germany. Athens is the capital of Germany. The point being that people can recognise landmarks in a handful of capitals cities, but are unable to visually identify other capitals even in the same region. I actually considered using the Mannequin-Pis as an example of an “iconic” statue, as opposed to structure, in the OP – because I did lknow that it’s the iconic “cue” for Brussels. I decided it was overkill in my list of examples, which may have been a mistake. Just FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-symbols-for-australian-cities/538076/31 "2010-05-07T21:10:28Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > I would be astounded if more than one person in a thousand could tell you what city that is in. I only recognise the sculpture itself because it has been overused in kitsch art, such as pissing soda into whiskey glasses or hideous concrete lawn ornaments. I always assumed there was an original, but until I just looked it up I had no idea where it was located. Why so pissy? Despite the pun, I do think your tone is bizarrely abrasive, and I think you’re making some big assumptions about other people sharing your ignorance (in the true sense of the word). > [@](#): > > Cities? Who mentioned cities? They are the capitals of nations adjoining Germany in one instance, and approximately halfway between Greece and Germany in the other. Berlin is the capital of Germany. Athens is the capital of Germany. The point being that people can recognise landmarks in a handful of capitals cities, but are unable to visually identify other capitals even in the same region. It doesn’t matter whether it was cities or not that you were talking about (it wasn’t very clear), I just think you’re over-egging the “European countries are so small” pudding. After all, we don’t tend to talk about Chicago and Cleveland, for example, as being ‘right next door’ to each other. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-symbols-for-australian-cities/538076.md?page=1)