SPQR

Modern coat of arms of Rome municipality.

A modern recreation of a Roman standard.

SPQH - Hamburg Rathaus

SPQx is sometimes used as an assertion of municipal pride and civic rights. The Italian town of Reggio Emilia, for instance, has SPQR in its coat of arms, standing for "Senatus Populusque Regiensis". There have been confirmed usages and reports of the deployment of the "SPQx" template in;

• Alkmaar, Netherlands, SPQA on the facade of the Waag building, now cheese museum.
• Amsterdam, Netherlands, SPQA at one of the major theatres and some of the bridges[4]
• Antwerp, Belgium, SPQA on the Antwerp City Hall[5]
• Basel, Switzerland, SPQB on the Webern-Brunnen in Steinenvorstadt[6]
• Benevento, Italy, SPQB on manhole covers[7]
• Bremen, Germany, SPQB in the Bremen City Hall[8]
• Bruges, Belgium, SPQB on its coat of arms[9]
• Brussels, Belgium, SPQB found repeatedly on the Palais de Justice,[10] and over the main stage of La Monnaie
• Capua, Italy, SPQC
• Catania, Italy, SPQC can be found on manhole covers
• Chicago, United States, SPQC can be found on the George N. Leighton Cook County Criminal Courthouse
• Dublin, Ireland, SPQH on the City Hall, built in 1769
• Florence, Italy, SPQF[7]
• Franeker, Netherlands, SPQF, At the a gate on the Westerbolwerk and Academiestraat 16.[11]
• Freising, Germany, SPQF, above the door of the town hall.
• Ghent, Belgium, SPQG on the Opera, Theater and some other major buildings. In 1583, during the Dutch Revolt, Ghent struck coins with a shield inscribed SPQG.[12]
• The Hague, Netherlands, SPQH above the stage in Koninklijke Schouwburg
• Hamburg, Germany, SPQH on a door in the Hamburg Rathaus[13]
• Hanover, Germany
• Haarlem, the Netherlands, SPQH on the face of the town hall at the "Grote Markt"
• Hasselt, Belgium, SPQH
• Kortrijk, Belgium, SPQC, city hall
• La Plata, Argentina, SPQR in a monument outside of the city's "casco urbano".
• Leeuwarden, Netherlands, SPQL on the mayor's chain of office[14]
• Liverpool, England, SPQL on various gold doors in St George's Hall[15]
• City of London, England, SPQL[16][17]
• Lübeck, Germany, SPQL on the Holstentor[18]
• Lucerne, Switzerland
• Milan, Italy, The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V struck coins at Milan with the inscription S P Q MEDIOL OPTIMO PRINCIPI.[19]
• Modica, Italy, SPQM is on the coat of arms
• Molfetta, Italy, SPQM is on the coat of arms[20]
• Naples, Italy, Coins struck during Masaniello’s 1647 revolt showed a shield inscribed SPQN.[21]
• Noto, Italy, SPQN on the coat of arms and the façade of Noto Cathedral
• Nuremberg, Germany, SPQN ("Norimbergensis") on the Fleisch Bridge (one of the major bridges over river Pegnitz in the inner city)
• Oudenburg, Belgium, SPQO (Senatus Populusque Odenburgensis) on its water pump next to the market square.[22]
• Olomouc, Czech Republic, SPQO on its coat of arms[7]
• Palermo, Italy, SPQP[23]
• Penne, Abruzzo, Italy, SPQP[23]
• Rieti, Italy, SPQS on the coat of arms (the second "S" stands for "Sabinus", referring to the Sabines). Present also in the modern composite Lazio coat-of-arms.
• Rotterdam, the Netherlands, SPQR on a wallpainting in the Rotterdam City Hall
• Severn Beach, United Kingdom, SPQR on the Parish Council coat of arms.
• Siena, Italy, SPQS[24]
• Solothurn, Switzerland, SPQS on the Cathedral of St Ursus and Victor
• Terracina, Italy, SPQT[25]
• Tivoli, Lazio, Italy, SPQT[26]
• Valencia, Spain, SPQV in several places and buildings, including the Silk Exchange[27] and the University of Valencia[28] Historic Building.
• Verviers, Belgium, SPQV on the Grand Theatre[29]
• Vienna, Austria[7]

Some members of white supremacist groups use the acronym SPQR on flags, on their person (such as tattoos) and other forms of identification.[30][31][32][33] The movement's enthusiasm for other symbols of republican Rome, such as the axe and bundled rods known as fasces, is documented, as well as their interest in some aspects of republican and imperial Rome.[34] That use was discussed on Stormfront's bulletin boards and was noticed at white supremacist demonstrations.[31] White supremacists tend to associate "SPQR" with the militaristic ethos of the Roman legions. There is in fact no evidence that the initialism appeared regularly on Roman military insignia and equipment, but it was heavily used by Mussolini's fascist regime.[32]

• The Italians have long used a different and humorous expansion of this abbreviation, "Sono Pazzi Questi Romani" (literally: "They're crazy, these Romans").[35] In the Asterix and Obelix comics, Obelix often uses the French translation of this phrase, "Ils sont fous ces Romains", and in the Italian editions, the original phrase is used.[36]

• In the early twentieth century, the letters "SPQR" could sometimes be seen displayed on London market traders' stalls, meaning "Small Profits, Quick Returns".[37]

• S.P.Q.R. Records was an American popular music record label, a subsidiary of Legrand Records, which flourished in the 1960s and included Gary U.S. Bonds among its artists. The label was founded by Frank Guida, who is believed to have adopted the name in allusion to his Italian origins.[38]

• The short-lived American animated sitcom The Roman Holidays (1972) aired in Italy under the title S.P.Q.R. - Sembrano Proprio Quasi Romani ("They really seem almost Roman").

• S.P.Q.R. is the fourth song on the critically acclaimed experimental rock album Deceit (1981) by This Heat. The song talks about atomic destruction and human morals using symbols of Rome.[39]

• S.P.Q.R. is a restaurant in Ponsonby, Auckland, New Zealand, opened in 1992,[40] and a finalist in the Metro Peugeot Restaurant of the Year 2019 awards.[41]

• A short scene in the Ridley Scott film Gladiator shows the main character Maximus (played by Russell Crowe) removing a tattoo of the letters "S.P.Q.R." from his left shoulder with a sharp stone. Maximus is a Roman soldier-turned-slave, and while removing the tattoo a fellow slave asks "Is that the sign of your gods? Will that not anger them?", to which Maximus gives a silent nod.

• MPQN, standing for Metallica Populusque Nimus, appears on the cover of the Metallica live DVD Français Pour une Nuit (2009), which was recorded in the Arena of Nîmes, a remodelled Roman amphiteatre.[42]

• In Rick Riordan's fantasy series The Heroes of Olympus (2010–2014), the Roman Camp Jupiter tattoos SPQR on legionnaires' arms.

• The football team A.S. Roma wore special edition shirts with SPQR on the chest for their match against city rivals S.S. Lazio on 29 April 2017.[43]