What are all these icons on my Mac menu bar?

Oh, I know just what you mean. I find that some icons show up on the menu bar too, often without me wanting them or even being interested in the related program. Generally, the intent of these is that they're program shortcuts very similar to the launch bar in Windows, the tiny icons on the lower right of a Windows XP or Windows Vista system.

On my Mac, here's what I have displayed:

For convenience sake, I've numbered them, as you can see. Normally you'd just be left in the dark. :-)

Fortunately, with precious few exceptions, clicking on one of the icons will produce a menu that either explicitly tells you the associated application or System Preference or implies it through indicated functionality.

As an example, clicking on the tiny American flag produces:

It's the last entry on this menu that tells you which Mac System Preference owns this icon: "International". Choose "Open International..." and you'll see the following:

Note the checkbox on the very bottom: "Show input menu in menu bar". That's what's causing the little flag icon to show up (yes, it changes based on what input language / locale you choose). Uncheck that and you've taken your first step towards cleaning up your menu bar.

Many of these icons can also be removed by holding down the command (aka apple or cloverleaf) key and dragging it directly off the menu bar itself:

Others can be tricker, and some can't be removed at all, notably icon #2 on the first screen shot, which is from the Seagate Mirra backup device I use in the office.

Finally, let me tell you what each of my icons is associated with, in the hopes that it can help you figure out your own! Here's the list:

1. The multi-IM protocol Adium program
2. Seagate's Mirra backup system
3. Spanning Sync, which helps me keep Google Calendar and iCal in sync
4. Mac Displays
5. Battery (laptop only)
6. Sound / Volume
7. Wireless connectivity and status
8. International: Input Menu
9. Time, from the Date and Time System Preference
10. Bluetooth, from the System Preference
11. You Control Desktops (multi-desktop utility)
12. Spotlight