Being of prominent symbolic nature to Singapore and Singaporeans in general, it is widely used to represent both the city state and its people in sports teams, advertising, branding, tourism and as a national personification.

[5] On 15 September 1972, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew officiated the installation ceremony of the Merlion statue.

The entire statue was hoisted onto the barge, which then sailed to the new installation site at the current Merlion Park, near the mouth of Singapore River.

Exactly 30 years after he officially unveiled the Merlion, Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew returned on 15 September 2002 to ceremonially welcome the statue again, this time in its new home.

The Merlion now has a new two-unit water pump system with units working alternatively, so a backup is always on standby.

[9] The Merlion Park was temporarily turned into a single-unit hotel suite, as part of an artwork by Tatzu Nishi, for the duration of the 2011 Singapore Biennale.

[11] A breaking news from 938NOW local radio showed an image with fragments from the Merlion's head on the ground.

Examination of the damage was done quickly with wooden scaffolding set up on Sunday, 1 March 2009 for workers to take a closer look at the hole.

[13][14] One of the previously approved statues, a 37-metre-tall gigantic replica at Sentosa, with Mouth Gallery Viewing Deck on the ninth storey, another viewing gallery on its head and Sentosa Merlion Shop, and capable of shining laser beams from its eyes,[18] was closed on 20 October 2019.

[19] The statues can also be found outside of Singapore in various countries, namely Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, China, Cambodia and the United Kingdom.