Indeed there are. There are a total of three, so far.
As we covered in a previous QoD (4/21/05), the very first "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign was actually erected over Fremont Street in the 1920s. The iconic '50s sign on the southern end of the Strip, however, was the brainchild of Ted Rogich, father of Sig Rogich, one of the "Rs" in the big Nevada advertisting and marketing company R&R, who also served as an ambassador to his native Iceland, was a senior assistant to former President George H.W. Bush, and was the national advertising director of President Ronald Reagan’s re-election campaign. Ted Rogich was working as a salesman for an outfit called the Western Neon Co., when he dreamed up the sign. Designed by local graphic artist and typographer Betty Willis, it was sold to Clark County for $4,000 and erected in 1959.
It's currently owned by the Young Electric Sign Co., which has been responsible for many of the neon displays around town, and now leases it to Clark County. On one occasion that we're aware of, the sign actually went dark for about a month when ownership of the sign changed over from one company to another and somehow the unpaid electric bill got lost in the mix. When the problem was discovered, the outstanding payment (less than $60) was made and power was turned back on.
The next official sign to be erected was the "Welcome to Fabulous Downtown Las Vegas" sign, located on Las Vegas Blvd. S. at the intersection of 4th Street, north of the Stratosphere, just within the city limits of the City of Las Vegas. It was all part of the regeneration of the downtown area and the restoration of some civic pride.
Finally, in 2005 came an announcement from the LVCVA that they'd be paying for another "Welcome" sign, this time destined for the median on Boulder Highway near the Nevada Palace, which they'd donate to Clark County as part of the Boulder Highway Beautification Plan. We're not sure what else that plan entails, but we can confirm that you weren't hallucinating and the new "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign was erected in 2006. It's an exact replica of the original, only slightly larger.
The design of the sign was never copyrighted; this has resulted in the image being ubiquitous on Las Vegas souvenirs, including smaller versions of the signs that also light up and are available in most gift shops, not to mention many businesses around town that have borrowed it for their own logos. It was even used for a commemorative Nevada license plate in 2005 in celebration of the city's 100th birthday.
Hopefully, that's answered your question. The other question about the sign that we've received recently, but that we can't answer, is why the movie poster for Resident Evil: Extinction has subtly altered its design. If you haven't spotted it already, check out the image below, where you'll see that "Fabulous" has been changed to "Fantastic" and that the dollar signs have been turned to diamonds.
The blank we've drawn on this one has not been for lack of trying, but numerous phone calls to various promoters and design departments at Sony Pictures have yielded zero information. One of our researchers even attended the premiere, all in the interests of sleuthing, of course. But to no avail. All we can guess is that even though the sign is in the public domain, Sony didn't want to take any chances and decided to alter it enough to avoid any potential copyright infringement. If anyone else knows any better, please pass it on.
