The Hollywood sign is getting a makeover befitting its status as a Tinseltown icon.

After a pressure-wash and some rust removal, workers this week began using 946 litres of primer and white paint to spruce up the sign ahead of its centennial next year.

The entire renovation effort is expected to take up to eight weeks.

Originally built in 1923, the sign read “Hollywoodland” to promote a property development.

But after decades of neglect, the original sign was replaced in 1978 with a new one that simply reads “Hollywood”.

“It’s now representing not only the place of Hollywood, but it signifies the entertainment industry, and LA is the entertainment capital of the world,” Jeff Zarrinnam with the Hollywood Sign Trust said on Monday.

The 45-foot-tall sign in the Hollywood Hills above Los Angeles is repainted every decade.