graffiti

Inscriptions or drawings carved, scratched, or drawn on public surfaces, such as walls, fences, or public-transport vehicles. Graffiti art rose out of the urban street culture of New York in the 1970s, and was later assimilated into commercial art forms.

Tagging is the act of writing an individual logo on surfaces with spray paint or large felt-tip pens.

The term graffiti is derived from a traditional technique in Italian art (sgraffito) of scratching a design in the thin white plaster on a wall.