New sign at the Flamingo, 1977
The bullnose sign was designed by Raul Rodriguez in ‘76, built and installed by Heath & Company, over what was then the Flamingo’s front driveway. It was completed before an official lighting ceremony on June 27, 1977.
In one of the largest contracts ever awarded, Heath and Co. has been selected by Hilton Corp. to execute the exterior lighting and signage for new sections of the Flamingo Hilton. The $1.5 million agreement calls for the design and construction of the porte-cochère area [and] almost 700 feet of fascia running along the front of the building parallel to the Strip. - Heath, Hilton contract on Flamingo Lighting. Las Vegas Review-Journal, 11/25/76
Model of the sign.
“The model actually had lights inside. We had gamblers at gamblers’ tables inside the model … it took us about three weeks. We worked on it literally around twelve hours a day. I was there helping and we had a guy in the plastic department and Raul and two other artists kept coming down and helping at the Heath plant. We built all of this at the Heath plant, including the sign.” - Kent Carmichael, Oral History Conducted by Stefani Evans, UNLV.
Construction photos by Raul Rodriguez, from The Magic Sign by Charles Barnard.
Left: Photo by Raul Rodriguez via Neon Museum. Right: Official lighting of the sign announced for June 22, 1977, with photo by Tom Jones IV.
Date unknown, c. ‘77-79.
Kodachrome, Sep. 1977.
Published 10/20/2016; Updated 7/19/2026
