Artist Betty Willis designed the famous neon sign in 1959 . The original design was a giant red letter "A" with an arrow pointing to the left, but it had been painted over by vandals and graffiti artists who thought that would be more fun than having In 2009 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places . No one owns the copyright to the sign , so it is often imitated and appears on all kinds of souvenirs in Las Vegas and elsewhere .
Artist Betty Willis designed the famous neon sign in 1959 . The sign sits in a median in the middle of Las Vegas Boulevard south of the Strip and is a popular tourist attraction . In 2009 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places . No one owns the copyright to the sign , so it is often imitated and appears on all kinds of souvenirs in Las Vegas and elsewhere .