If you don't pay attention to manhole covers, it's probably because they aren't worth looking at. That is true in many places, but at least in some of the countries we have visited they are more interesting.
The following were seen in Galicia in 2009:
Santiago. "CONCELLO SANTIAGO" means Santiago County in Galician. At the bottom "SANEAMIENTO" means this is a sanitary sewer. The coat of arms of Santiago is at the center: a holy chalice on the left and on the right a star shining light on the tomb of Saint James (Santiago), which was the holy site that drew pilgrims to the town.
Santiago. A square cover decorated with F and three square dots.
Santiago. A tall symbol like a comb above Santiago County. "REXEL" is an electrical equipment manufacturer. "ABASTECIMIENTO" means supply. "SAINT-GOBAIN CANALIZACION" is the Saint-Gobain pipe company, presumably manufacturer of the manhole cover and the pipe it covers.
Santiago. Galicia is in the northwest corner of Spain. Above and to the left is the Atlantic Ocean; to the south is Portugal, and to the east is more Spain.
Santiago. A simple design: the scallop shell at the top is the symbol of pilgrims coming to the shrine of Saint James (Santiago).
Santiago. "PLUVIALES" at the bottom suggests that this is a storm sewer to drain rain water.
Santiago. I don't know what "REGISTRO" means here.
Santiago. I think this covers equipment for traffic lights.
Caldas de Reyes. Caldas de Reis (Reyes in Galician) has a bridge from the era when it was headquarters for a Roman legion.
Caldas de Reyes. "ALCANTARILLADO" means sewage.
Allariz. Allariz was a center for production of tanned leather and shoe making.
Vilalba. The coat of arms of Lugo has a castle supported by two lions holding up a chalice, with angels sitting on clouds on the right and left.
Several manhole covers bear maker's marks. The most common is FURNES, probably the mark of Furnes-Hamjern SCC. Their web site is in Norwegian or Swedish or Danish, not English. The factory is in Strange, Norway N-2335 and the offices are in Hamar, Norway N-2306.
Less frequent is ULEFOS. From that company's web site, "Ulefos NV has been manufacturing and selling cast iron products for over 350 years. Today we are the leading manufacturer and supplier of cast iron gully tops in Scandinavia. Ulefos NV has long tradition of delivering quality products; the Ulefos stove, model 179, has been in production since 1766, and may very well be Norway oldest industrial product still being produced and sold. Since 1835 the company has been owned by the Cappelen family. Read more"
Oslo, 5 Apr Caped man with a halo seated on a pair of lions holding a mill stone? in his right hand and star-headed flowers in his right with a naked woman curving under his feet on a circular field of Greek crosses (plus signs)
Oslo, 5 Apr Ten houses at various orientations interspersed with umbrellas? and two lines of palisade fence
Bergen, 8 Apr Bryggen (3 gables in a row) with a stepped gable to the left and a square tower behind, a funicular car and a cable car to the upper left and waves and a square rigged ship in the right foreground
Alesund, 10 Apr A longboat with a square sail on water with fish below on a field of alternating vertical and horizontal lines
Alesund, 10 Apr A shield with a longboat with a square sail on water with fish below. Above the shield a crown of battlements and below "ALESUND KOMMUNE". Around all this a ring of nine symbols drawn with a single line: the Norwegian flag, a dog-dragon head and neck, an eye, two arms held up with hands open, a five-pointed star, a globe with lines of latitude and longitude, an open hand, two five-pointed dancing stars, and a cross.
Alesund, 10 Apr "1904" above an Art Deco knot of 3 strands with a lattice work of flowers right and left, like a stained glass armature and "Alesund" below
Alesund, 10 Apr Ten houses at various orientations interspersed with umbrellas? and two lines of palisade fence. Seen earlier in Oslo.
Molde, 10 Apr A crown on top of a shield showing the tail and spout of a whale and 3 waves of water. (Molde was saved from famine by a whale that chased a school of herring up the fjord to the town.) Under the shield is "MIV". The shield and MIV are inscribed in a circle in a field of dots
Trondheim, 11 Apr A circle of crenellation around two masonry structures with three faces below and in the middle. I the left structure under a canopy topped with a cross is a bishop with his crozier blessing the figure on the right. The structure on the right is a castle holding a king with a crown and holding the scales of justice. The 3 faces below may have haloes; the center one has a small beard.
Harstad, 13 Apr A shield with three wavy horizontal bands surmounted by a crown in a circle within a field of heart-shaped darts. Inside the circle "Harstad Commune".
Finnsnes, 13 Apr A shield with a knife, fork, and spoon laid bottom right to top left in a field of squares. Below the shield "Lenvik Commune"
Tromsø, 13 Apr Reindeer in a square inscribed in a circle on a field of heart-shaped darts
Kirkenes, 15 Apr Ten houses at various orientations interspersed with umbrellas? and two lines of palisade fence. Seen also in Oslo and Alesund.
Kirkenes, 17 Apr A shield with three flames pointing up to the right in a circle in a field of heart-shaped darts.
Kirkenes, 18 Apr A fan of dashed lines radiating from a hole on the edge superimposed on a field of carets, some complete and some fragmentary. Rectangular box opposite the hole around a number (obscured).
Oslo, 20 Apr Three eight-pointed stars inscribed within each other, with eight radiating lines connecting the valleys between the points.
Oslo, 20 Apr A stylized "SR" underlined in a circle surrounded by two rings of 16 compartments each filled with balls. The inter compartments hold 4 balls each, the outer hold 7 balls. Is this a ball mill, with gaps in the compartment walls to allow powder to exit?
Arlington, VA Outside the Clarendon Metro stop. They use paint here for obscure, utilitarian purposes. There's spray paint all over the sidewalks and streets for use by surveyors or street repair crews, but not for beautification.
Washington, DC Outside a Congressional office.
Washington, DC Intriguing: what is USC & CB? Not much effort to be decorative or symbolic, anyway.
Washington, DC Pepco is the Potomac Electric and Power Company.
Washington, DC On the Mall. Ahhhh! Remember when there was one phone company? Are things better now that we have 20?
