In his iconic biography of London, Peter Ackroyd comments on the multitude of signage in the city in the 18th century London: "Almost every house, and every trade, had its sign so that the streets of the city were a perpetual forest of painted imagery... There were images of chained bears and of rising suns, of sailing ships and angels, of red lions and golden bells."
Today, there are also signs everywhere, from road markers to street art. We've avoided the former category for this selection, a suitably random, sometimes humorous, snapshot of London signage.
All images from Londonist Flickrpool contributors with thanks: Prad Patel, Binary Betty, Flamenco Sun, The Great Misto, Michael Reeve, redpopcreative, bellybutton girl, Sean Batten, Duncan and zefrog.