diff --git a/config/_default/params.toml b/config/_default/params.toml
index 749e0bda..2f7e5404 100644
--- a/config/_default/params.toml
+++ b/config/_default/params.toml
@@ -151,6 +151,8 @@
     breadcrumb = true
     toc = true
     sidebar = true
+    sidebarIcons = false
+    sidebarIconLevel = 1
     size = "md"
     startLevel = 2
     endLevel = 3
diff --git a/layouts/_partials/assets/helpers/sidebar-menu-entry.html b/layouts/_partials/assets/helpers/sidebar-menu-entry.html
index ff97e5ff..703db971 100644
--- a/layouts/_partials/assets/helpers/sidebar-menu-entry.html
+++ b/layouts/_partials/assets/helpers/sidebar-menu-entry.html
@@ -7,8 +7,12 @@
     - sortField: Field to sort children by (e.g., "title", "date", "weight")
     - reverse: Whether to reverse sort order (default: false)
     - seen: Slice of ancestor permalinks in the current walk, used as cycle guard (internal)
+    - iconLevel: Deepest 1-based level that may show an icon; 0 disables them
+      (resolved once by the caller via utilities/GetSidebarIcons.html)
 
-    Returns: Menu entry dict with title and pages (optional array of nested entries)
+    Returns: Menu entry dict with title, link, an optional pre (leading icon,
+    taken from the page's `icon` param), and optional pages (array of nested
+    entries)
 */}}
 
 {{- $page := .page -}}
@@ -16,11 +20,35 @@
 {{- $sortField := .sortField | default "title" -}}
 {{- $reverse := .reverse | default false -}}
 {{- $seen := .seen | default slice -}}
+{{- $iconLevel := .iconLevel | default 0 -}}
 
 {{- /* Create menu entry with title and absolute link */ -}}
 {{- /* Include the full RelPermalink; sidebar will recognize leading "/" as absolute */ -}}
 {{- $entry := dict "title" $page.LinkTitle "link" $page.RelPermalink -}}
 
+{{- /* Carry the page's icon as "pre", the field the sidebar renderer already
+    reads for a leading icon on menu-defined entries. Without this a page-derived
+    sidebar can never show one, however the page is authored.
+
+    Gated on depth, and off unless the site opts in: `icon` is authored for a
+    page's card, so rendering it here unconditionally would put icons into the
+    sidebars of existing sites that never asked for them - and only on the pages
+    that happen to set one, which reads as a bug rather than a feature. Icons on
+    the top level alone is the common case, hence a level rather than a bool.
+
+    Levels are counted as the sidebar renders them, not as this partial recurses.
+    assets/sidebar.html drops the walk's root entry and promotes its children to
+    the top of the list, so the root is never a visible row; `len $seen` is
+    therefore already the rendered 1-based level, and level 1 is the first row a
+    reader sees. Omitted when unset or out of range so the renderer's `with`
+    guards stay false rather than seeing an empty string. */ -}}
+{{- $level := len $seen -}}
+{{- if le $level $iconLevel -}}
+    {{- with $page.Params.icon -}}
+        {{- $entry = merge $entry (dict "pre" .) -}}
+    {{- end -}}
+{{- end -}}
+
 {{- /* Get children from grouped hierarchy */ -}}
 {{- $children := index $grouped $page.RelPermalink | default slice -}}
 {{- /* Guard against cycles: the grouped map keys pages by permalink, so any permalink collision
@@ -57,7 +85,7 @@
     {{- /* Recursively build nested menu entries */ -}}
     {{- $pages := slice -}}
     {{- range $children -}}
-        {{- $childEntry := partial "assets/helpers/sidebar-menu-entry" (dict "page" . "grouped" $grouped "sortField" $sortField "reverse" $reverse "seen" $seen) -}}
+        {{- $childEntry := partial "assets/helpers/sidebar-menu-entry" (dict "page" . "grouped" $grouped "sortField" $sortField "reverse" $reverse "seen" $seen "iconLevel" $iconLevel) -}}
         {{- $pages = $pages | append $childEntry -}}
     {{- end -}}
     {{- $entry = merge $entry (dict "pages" $pages) -}}
diff --git a/layouts/_partials/assets/live-pages.html b/layouts/_partials/assets/live-pages.html
index a65b1972..434defba 100644
--- a/layouts/_partials/assets/live-pages.html
+++ b/layouts/_partials/assets/live-pages.html
@@ -240,12 +240,17 @@
                 {{- $pages = $result -}}
 
                 {{/* Build menu structure from sorted pages and hierarchy */}}
+                {{- /* Resolve the icon depth once against the page being rendered,
+                    not against each entry: the cascade is keyed on the current
+                    page's type, while the entries are the pages being listed. */ -}}
+                {{- $iconLevel := partial "utilities/GetSidebarIcons.html" (or $args.page page) -}}
                 {{- range $rootPages -}}
                     {{- $menuEntry := partial "assets/helpers/sidebar-menu-entry" (dict
                         "page"      .
                         "grouped"   $grouped
                         "sortField" $sortField
                         "reverse"   $reverse
+                        "iconLevel" $iconLevel
                     ) -}}
                     {{- $menu = $menu | append $menuEntry -}}
                 {{- end -}}
diff --git a/layouts/_partials/utilities/GetSidebarIcons.html b/layouts/_partials/utilities/GetSidebarIcons.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3c816f74
--- /dev/null
+++ b/layouts/_partials/utilities/GetSidebarIcons.html
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+{{- /*
+    Resolve how deep the page-hierarchy sidebar should render entry icons.
+
+    Returns the deepest 1-based level that may show an icon, or 0 for none.
+    Callers compare an entry's level against it, so "off" needs no separate
+    boolean at the call site.
+
+    Resolution mirrors utilities/GetIncludeTOC.html: a site-wide switch, then a
+    per-page override, then a per-type default. Both the switch and the level
+    cascade, so a section can enable icons without restating the depth, or
+    change the depth without restating the switch.
+
+        navigation.sidebarIcons          bool, site-wide (default false)
+        navigation.sidebarIconLevel      int, deepest level (default 1)
+        <page>.Params.sidebarIcons       bool, per page
+        <page>.Params.sidebarIconLevel   int, per page
+        pages.<Type>.sidebaricons        bool, per content type
+        pages.<Type>.sidebariconlevel    int, per content type
+
+    Defaults to off. A page's `icon` param is authored for its card, so
+    enabling this by default would put icons in the sidebars of existing sites
+    that never asked for them - and only on the pages that happen to set one,
+    which looks like a bug rather than a feature.
+
+    Hugo lowercases the keys of the `pages.<Type>` maps, hence `sidebaricons`
+    and `sidebariconlevel` there but camelCase everywhere else.
+*/ -}}
+
+{{- $enabled := site.Params.navigation.sidebarIcons | default false -}}
+{{- $level := site.Params.navigation.sidebarIconLevel | default 1 -}}
+
+{{- $typeDefaults := index site.Params.pages .Type -}}
+{{- with $typeDefaults -}}
+    {{- if isset . "sidebaricons" -}}
+        {{- $enabled = index . "sidebaricons" -}}
+        {{- if ne (printf "%T" $enabled) "bool" -}}
+            {{- errorf "Expected bool value in site parameters: pages.%s.sidebarIcons" $.Type -}}
+        {{- end -}}
+    {{- end -}}
+    {{- if isset . "sidebariconlevel" -}}
+        {{- $level = index . "sidebariconlevel" -}}
+    {{- end -}}
+{{- end -}}
+
+{{- if isset .Params "sidebaricons" -}}
+    {{- $enabled = .Params.sidebaricons -}}
+    {{- if ne (printf "%T" $enabled) "bool" -}}
+        {{- errorf "Expected bool value in page parameters: sidebarIcons (%s)" .RelPermalink -}}
+    {{- end -}}
+{{- end -}}
+{{- if isset .Params "sidebariconlevel" -}}
+    {{- $level = .Params.sidebariconlevel -}}
+{{- end -}}
+
+{{- return cond $enabled (int $level) 0 -}}