Neon signs are luminous-tube signs that contain neon or other inert gases at a low pressure. Applying a high voltage (usually a few thousand volts) makes the gas glow brightly. They are produced by the craft of bending glass tubing into shapes. A worker skilled in this craft is known as a glass bender, neon or tube bender.

The neon sign is an evolution of the earlier Geissler tube (also called a Crookes tube), which is a glass tube for demonstrating the principles of electrical discharge.

There are conflicting stories for the origin of neon signs. At the 1893 World's Fair, the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, Nikola Tesla's signs were displayed. Supposedly, a sign created by Perley G. Nutting and displaying the word “neon” was shown at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904; however, this claim has been disputed. The development of neon signs has also been credited to Georges Claude; another early public display of a neon sign was of two 38-foot (12 m) long tubes in December 1910 at the Paris Expo. The first commercial sign was sold by Jaques Fonseque, Claude’s associate, in 1912 to a Paris barber.

In 1923, Georges Claude and his French company Claude Neon, introduced neon gas signs to the United States, by selling two to a Packard car dealership in Los Angeles. Earle C. Anthony purchased the two signs reading "Packard" for $1,250 apiece. Neon lighting quickly became a popular fixture in outdoor advertising. Visible even in daylight, people would stop and stare at the first neon signs for hours, dubbed "liquid fire."

While neon lighting was used around 1930 in France for general illumination, it was no more energy-efficient than conventional incandescent lighting and neon lighting came to be used primarily for eye-catching signs and advertisements.

Today several new kinds of signs like led sign come into use. All kinds of advertising signs, light box make the city more beautiful.