Editing Graffiti (section)

=== Contemporary ===
In the 1790s, French soldiers carved their names on monuments during the Napoleonic [[French Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1798|campaign of Egypt]].<ref name=JinxArtCrimes>{{Cite news|title=Art Crimes |publisher=Jinx Magazine |url=http://www.jinxmagazine.com/art_crimes.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014194314/http://www.jinxmagazine.com/art_crimes.html/ |archive-date=14 October 2014 }}</ref>{{Dead link|date=April 2025}} [[Lord Byron]]'s survives on one of the columns of the Temple of [[Poseidon]] at [[Cape Sounion]] in [[Attica]], Greece.<ref name=shanks>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/classicalarchaeo00shan|url-access=limited|title=Classical Archaeology of Greece: Experiences of the Discipline |first=Michael |last=Shanks |year=1996 |publisher=London, New York: Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-08521-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/classicalarchaeo00shan/page/n87 76]}}</ref>

The oldest known example of [[Moniker (graffiti)|graffiti monikers]] were found on traincars created by hobos and railworkers since the late 1800s. The Bozo Texino monikers were documented by filmmaker [[Bill Daniel (filmmaker)|Bill Daniel]] in his 2005 film, ''Who is Bozo Texino?''.<ref name="bozo-texino-walker">{{cite web |last=Daniel |first=Bill |date=22 July 2010 |title=Who Is Bozo Texino? |url=https://walkerart.org/calendar/2010/who-is-bozo-texino |access-date=23 August 2018}}</ref><ref name="bozo-texino-film">{{cite web |last=Daniel |first=Bill |date=2005 |title=Who Is Bozo Texino? |url=http://www.billdaniel.net/who-is-bozo-texino/ |access-date=23 August 2018 |work=Who Is Bozo Texino? The Secret History of Hobo Graffiti}}</ref>

Contemporary graffiti has been seen on landmarks in the US, such as [[Independence Rock]], a national landmark along the [[Oregon Trail]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Independence Rock—California National Historic Trail (National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/cali/planyourvisit/site5.htm |access-date=18 January 2018 |publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>

In [[World War II]], an inscription on a wall at the fortress of [[Verdun]] was seen as an illustration of the US response twice in a generation to the wrongs of the Old World:<ref name=reagan>{{cite book |title=Military Anecdotes (1992) |first=Geoffrey |last=Reagan |year=1992 |publisher=Guinness Publishing |isbn=978-0-85112-519-0 |page=33 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/14/opinion/words-from-a-war.html|title=Words From a War|date=14 August 1985|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=2 January 2017}}</ref>

{{poemquote|
Austin White – Chicago, Ill – 1918
Austin White – Chicago, Ill – 1945
This is the last time I want to write my name here.}}

During World War II and for decades after, the phrase "[[Kilroy was here]]" with an accompanying illustration was widespread throughout the world, due to its use by American troops and ultimately filtering into American popular culture. Shortly after the death of [[Charlie Parker]] (nicknamed "Yardbird" or "Bird"), graffiti began appearing around New York with the words "Bird Lives".<ref name=russel>{{cite book |title=Bird Lives!: The High Life And Hard Times Of Charlie (yardbird) Parker |first=Ross |last=Russell |publisher=Da Capo Press}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" caption="World War II graffiti">
Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-309-0816-20A, Italien, Soldat zeichnend.jpg|Soldier with tropical fantasy graffiti (1943–1944)
Graffiti inside the ruins of the German Reichstag building.jpg|Soviet Army graffiti in the ruins of the [[Reichstag building|Reichstag]], in [[Berlin]] (1945)
The D-Day Wall, Southampton, 10 June 2024.jpg|The D-Day Wall in Western Esplanade, [[Southampton]]
Kilroy Was Here - Washington DC WWII Memorial - Jason Coyne.jpg|Permanent engraving of [[Kilroy was here|Kilroy]] on the [[World War II Memorial]], in [[Washington, D.C.]]
</gallery><gallery mode="packed" caption="Early spray-painted graffiti">
NYC R36 1 subway car.png|[[New York City Subway]] train covered in graffiti (1973)
GRAFFITI ON A WALL IN CHICAGO. SUCH WRITING HAS ADVANCED AND BECOME AN ART FORM, PARTICULARLY IN METROPOLITAN AREAS.... - NARA - 556232.jpg|Graffiti in [[Chicago]] (1973)
</gallery>