A “spectacular and iconic landmark” was unveiled on Hamilton’s waterfront last night — a 40ft marquee “Bermuda” sign.

The City of Hamilton unveiled the structure, which has an augmented reality feature that can be experienced with a simple QR code scan with smartphones.

The Deputy Mayor, John Harvey, praised Keeon Minors, of the digital marketing agency Lead X Design, saying that he had captured Bermuda’s culture, heritage and traditions in the installation.

Mr Harvey said: “This installation is part of the city’s Vivid Public Art Initiative and is a very welcome addition. The City of Hamilton has installed more than 25 murals and sculptures throughout the City, realising the City’s vision to be a vibrant one.

“Keeon was the standout winner out of 60 entries in a public contest designed to inspire and challenge local artisans on a grand scale and to submit their visions for the sign.

“Criteria for the contest included a celebration of Bermuda’s rich culture and storied history. Keeon, I can emphatically state, you nailed it.”

The City of Hamilton partnered with Paradise Mobile, a mobile network operator set to launch in Bermuda this year, to create the augmented reality component of the sign using web-based technology.

Dwayne Caines, the City of Hamilton chief executive and secretary, said: “We wanted to create a large-scale AR opportunity to showcase Bermuda but also marry it with technology.

“Everybody knows about the Hollywood sign and every major city in the world has that iconic space where you come to take a photo. We want them to come here and take that iconic shot.

“This is Bermuda — you see iconic images and words on the sign, and what better thing to have in the background than Hamilton Harbour?

“The competition we did to get this was amazing — we got schoolchildren, artisans, people with graphic arts backgrounds and this is the result.

“People always ask me how do Bermudians get involved. This is an example of a Bermudian effort with the labour, with the intellectual capital put into it, the AR feed — everything was done on island in terms of the concept, so we are really proud of this.”

The City of Hamilton has launched a social media photo contest inviting the public to submit creative images to include the sign. The winning submission will receive dinner for four in the City and VIP seating at the Fresh Air Films event on June 24 at Barr’s Bay Park.

Mr Harvey thanked industry professionals who participated in the competition selection process — gallery directors Peter Lapsley and Nzingah Ming, chartered architect and former City of Hamilton councillor Henry Ming and executives Patrick Cooper, Dwayne Caines and Jessica Astwood.

He also thanked the City’s marketing team for the concept as well as the City crews and Ricky Sousa and his team at RMS Construction, all of whom assisted with the sign’s installation.

Members of the public were encouraged to tag the City of Hamilton in their social media posts using the Instagram handle @citylifebda and “get Bermuda trending”.

The unveiling had been scheduled to take place on May 24 to coincide with what has historically been celebrated as Bermuda Day but was postponed owing to wet weather.