A master's thesis at the College of Fine Arts, University of Basrah, examined building the graphic icon for Iraqi cities
The message presented by researcher Raghda Akram Sobeih included the theme of the graphic mark, which represents a semantic communicative language between the sender and the recipient and contributes to building a symbolic world for Iraqi cities that links different times of the city and serves as functions that indicate the depth of the connection with many and distant connotations in the city's identity and cultural heritage.
 
The thesis discussed the cognitive and cultural belief of the human being who lives in a world full of objects, movements, and images, all of which are significant things (signs) that make the individual in continuous contact with his environment to which he belongs. The thesis concluded that the graphic icon of Iraqi cities does not comply with the solid graphic standards and foundations with regard to the cultural identity of the city, and that the graphic icon of Iraqi cities does not include an attractive force for the recipient.