/
1x
Advertisement
Proudly Canadian, obsessively Toronto. Subscribe to Toronto Life!
Life

No, Toronto, Hamilton didn’t “steal” the idea for their new sign from us

By Toronto Life
Copy link

Last week, Hamilton approved a new sign that will sit outside its city hall: eight lit-up letters that spell out HAMILTON. Sound familiar? Toronto’s Twitter world was predictably miffed, accusing the Hammer of ripping off the sign at Nathan Phillips Square. But as is often the case on social media, the facts about this alleged act of plagiarism were a little wobbly. Turns out we weren’t the first city to come up with the genius idea of spelling out our own name. Here’s the proof.

In review, here’s our pride and joy:

And this is what Hamilton’s will look like:

Of course, we also accused Ottawa of stealing the idea:

Amsterdam’s sign is generally accepted to be the one that started the trend (though, honestly, who knows anymore?):

Advertisement

Lyon didn’t even change the colour scheme:

At least Brisbane got a little creative:

Cancún gets extra point for the best backdrop: 

Montevideo’s is pretty lively:

For the Olympics, Rio put up not just one sign:

Advertisement

But two:

Portugal clued in, too:

Cincinnati’s had this one for a long time:

And you may or may not have seen this guy before:

NEVER MISS A TORONTO LIFE STORY

Sign up for This City, our free newsletter about everything that matters right now in Toronto politics, sports, business, culture, society and more.

By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.
You may unsubscribe at any time.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Big Stories

Dancing Queens: Patrons, staff and performers share their wildest memories of Crews and Tangos, Toronto’s most storied drag bar
Deep Dives

Dancing Queens: Patrons, staff and performers share their wildest memories of Crews and Tangos, Toronto’s most storied drag bar

Inside the Latest Issue

Inside the Latest Issue

The April issue of Toronto Life features the anatomy of a Bay Street fiasco at RBC. Plus, our obsessive coverage of everything that matters now in the city.