The California Department of Transportation (known as "Caltrans") denied permission to the proprietors of the Okie Girl Restaurant to put a sign on public property near a freeway offramp because the term "Okie" was "offensive speech" and a "slanderous slur" on Oklahomans and their numerous Californian descendants. After Oklahoma Governor David Walters sent a letter saying that "Okie" was no more offensive than "Californian," Caltrans agreed the term was acceptable, but still refused to post the sign because they disapproved of the logo, which featured a buxom country girl wearing a straw hat and overalls. The restaurant's proprietors eventually won in court.

The city of Charlotte, North Carolina, bans signs that swing, flutter, or sit on roofs. Signs that aren't forbidden must comply with 41 pages of closely printed regulations. One casualty of the requirements was the Westover Hills Presbyterian Church, whose basic wooden sign swung for over 20 years.

†