A cultural icon is an image, or a symbol particularly in modern culture, a widely recognized picture, name, face, person, or readily recognized building or other image that generally represents some other thing or concept with greater 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 historical period. Cultural icons in this way may be national, regional or related to a city, or may relate to a specific social grouping as Gay icons and Pop icons do. Fans of a particular sport, social group, political party, or almost any social or cultural grouping may be said to have iconic figures.

John Wayne, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, James Dean and Betty Crocker are examples of broadly national American cultural icons, along with the game of baseball, Hollywood, and Coca Cola. U.S. President John F. Kennedy has a political iconic status.

Some images may be quite well known, though their name 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.

Gallery

<gallery> Image:Mona_Lisa.jpeg|A well-known 16th century portrait. Image:Taj Mahal in March 2004.jpg|The Taj Mahal is regarded as one of India's greatest cultural icons. Image:Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Movie Trailer Screenshot (35).jpg|Marilyn Monroe, whose image is as widely recognised as is her name. Image:Clock Tower - Palace of Westminster, London - May 2007.jpg|The clock tower of the Palace of Westminster, iconic of the government of the United Kingdom. Image:Shakespeare.jpg|Portrait of a well known English writer. Image:Heroico1.jpg|Guerrillero Heroico, a famous image associated with Cuba. Image:Motherhood and apple pie.jpg|American cultural icons. Image:17th century Central Tibeten thanka of Guhyasamaja Akshobhyavajra, Rubin Museum of Art.jpg|Central to the iconography of Indian religions are mudra or gestures with specific meanings. </gallery>

See also

• Icon
• Icon (secular)
• Icon (disambiguation)
• Replicas of Michelangelo's David
• Guerrillero Heroico
• Chandos portrait
• Mona Lisa
• Casablanca (film)