ICONS, INDEXES, AND SYMBOLS ACROSS CONTEXTS: A COMPARATIVE PEIRCEAN ANALYSIS OF FOOTBALL POSTERS

Football posters are not merely promotional media but also multimodal texts that convey cultural meanings through images, colors, typography, and spatial layout. This study examines how icons, indexes, and symbols, based on Charles Sanders Peirce’s triadic semiotic theory, construct meanings of competition, national identity, prestige, and individual heroism in football posters. The study employs a qualitative, descriptive, and comparative semiotic approach. Six posters were purposively selected from three categories: two club competition posters, two international football posters, and two posters representing individual players. The data were analyzed through segmentation, categorization using explicit decision rules, and comparative analysis across categories. The findings show that icons are generally represented through players, trophies, and city landmarks that allow audiences to recognize objects directly. Indexes appear through gaze, gesture, printed names, dates and venues, and spatial direction that point toward competition and achievement, while symbols employ culturally recognized codes such as club colors, national flags, emblems, trophies, and award and sponsor branding. Although all three types of signs are found across the posters, their meanings develop according to their respective contexts. Club posters emphasize competition and institutional prestige, and international posters highlight national identity and global audience reach. The two individual-player posters frame achievement differently: as the culmination of a club season (Ballon d’Or) and as a match award framed by nation, tournament, and sponsor (Player of the Match). These findings indicate that, for the six posters analyzed, Peirce’s framework helps show them as texts rich in cultural meaning rather than merely promotional media. However, because the study uses only six posters, the patterns identified are indicative and are not intended to be statistically generalized