The RX-78's initial concept was that of a powered armor, the primary design for Yoshiyuki Tomino's proposed series Freedom Fighter Gunboy.

The series later changed its name to Mobile Suit Gundam and Kunio Okawara was given Tomino's concept to shape into a finalized design for the anime.

Tomino's response in the novel version of Gundam is that the original design was to be a grayscale machine, made up of mostly white and light gray colouring.

[2] The Japan Self-Defense Forces built an approximately full scale RX-78-3 Gundam (named after the use of helium-3 fuel) with styrofoam in its show and contains a simulation pod.

[3] A more skeletal design created by Ikuto Yamashita for Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, set during an alternate version of the Universal Century timeline.

In this incarnation, Char Aznable steals the RX-78-2 Gundam and modifies it with a red color scheme, psycommu systems, and funnel bits from the abandoned Elmeth project, allowing the Principality of Zeon to win the One Year War.

[7] This mobile suit and other notable machines from various Gundam series were also recognized in the second set of "Anime Heroes and Heroines" stamps, released in 2005.

Called the "ANA x GUNDAM Sky Project," the promotion used specially painted Boeing 777s on domestic and international flights.

On March 23, 2008, a bronze statue of the Gundam was erected at the south entrance of Kami-Igusa Station in Suginami, Tokyo to honor the hometown animation studio Sunrise.

To capture the teenage and adult demographics, Bandai produced a line of model kits based on the Gundam and other mobile suits, which became immensely popular.