Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Sign

The Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign stands on the median of Las Vegas Boulevard at 5200 S Las Vegas Boulevard, at the south end of the Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the unincorporated town of Paradise rather than inside the city limits. It was designed by Betty Willis, a commercial artist working for the Western Neon company, and erected in 1959, after the sign's creation was commissioned by local businessman Ted Rogich. The design is a diamond-shaped, mid-century modern form with a starburst of lights, a silver dollar motif above the lettering and bold red-and-white colors, reflecting the roadside optimism of the postwar era. Willis declined to copyright the sign, and it is therefore widely reproduced as a public symbol of the city. The sign is about 25 feet tall and sits at a point where early visitors arriving from Los Angeles on the highway first entered the Strip. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009, and over the years the Clark County government and local sign companies have maintained and repaired it. A dedicated parking area and a pedestrian approach were built in the 2000s so visitors can photograph the sign safely instead of stopping in traffic. The site is open at all hours, and the sign is lit after dark, which makes both daytime and night visits worthwhile. It is not a museum, and there is no fixed curatorial route, but the sign is closely related to the collections at the Neon Museum, which holds examples of other mid-century signs and sometimes interprets Willis's work. Because it is on the far south end of the Strip, near the airport, it is often the first or last stop of a visit to Las Vegas.