There are other areas that could use cargo icons. For example:

• "Capacity: [cargo icon] X units of Y" (buy window and vehicle windows))
• "Refittable to: [cargo icon] cargo 1, [cargo icon] cargo 2, ..." (buy window)
• "[cargo icon] (cargo name)" for each entry in the vehicle refit window.
• And many more...

In fact, the following changes could be made:

• A new special string command {CARGO_ICON} could be added to take in a cargo ID as a parameter and output the corresponding cargo's icon.
• A new game setting could be added to enable/disable showing cargo icons before each cargo name and cargo amount. This is so people who prefer the classic look and feel don't have to have the cargo icons being shown (@Eric-01), while linguistically impaired people / language learners could use the cargo icons to guide them.

Many cargo icons are unbelievably ugly, but eh. That has no real relevance, just leaving it here :)

Hmm... if you think they are ugly, they can always be remade by... uh... someone. And for those who prefer the classic look and feel, so don't want any cargo icons, James103's idea with the game setting would be prefect.

Thanks for this. There's been no activity on this for some time, and as it stands, it doesn't look likely that it will go any further. I'm closing it as we try to keep the issue count low for OpenTTD, it helps us focus on things that are important and fun. Feel free to discuss in irc or request re-opening if you disagree. Thanks for contributing!