Why “symbololatry” is a great word
SYMBOLOLATRY — [Noun] The worship of symbols, or the excessive veneration of symbolic representations over the realities they signify. From the Greek-derived elements symbol (from Greek σύμβολον, symbolon, meaning "token, sign") and -latry (from Greek -λατρεία, -latreia, meaning "worship"). Unlike iconolatry, which denotes the worship of sacred images, or idolatry, which implies worship of a physical object as a deity, symbololatry is the devotion to the signifier itself. It is the state flag revered more than the soil, the corporate logo gleaming brighter than any product, and the curated public persona cherished above the unkempt self—a quiet tragedy of mistaking the map for the territory and preferring its cleaner borders.