In America it’s increasingly common to see images that represent the members of a family on the back of cars. The Economist took a look at this:

• The trend appears to have begun in Mexico. Families didn’t want to put the names of their children on their car for fear of kidnappings. Instead they depicted figurines of them.
• It has spread rapidly in the US. One company allows families to order custom made stickers which can be accessorized as needed. The Economist writes that it is possible to “depict…a bearded, balding x-ray technician, married to a bee-keeping mother…whose kids enjoy ballet and baseball, and who own guinea pigs”
• Sometimes families will purchase crosses to mark out divorced spouses. Or a Halo for deceased ones.
• Others use it as a joke (as in the picture above). It is not uncommon to see the words “position open” where the spouse would normally be.
• Dogs frequently make an appearance as pets are like family for many.
• The stickers appear to be particularly popular with females.
• The fad is made possible by the internet and the era of mass customization. Just as knights in the medieval era advertized their family lineage, so to do families today use the customized individuality available today to share details of their own families.

Read more over here.

Source: The Economist