Well, consider what would happen if we served https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iridescent_Glory_of_Nearby_Helix_Neb... at the native image size...
It is not an SVG! It is a band-width problem, in this case. I needed about 10 minutes real-time to download this image at full-size to my computer, but can work anyway in parallel. Vector-grafics should have been FAR MORE compressibale then jpeg or other snapshots from random/real-word scenery! Thus, an irreal example. ;-)
I just wonder: Why do we not simply transmit the SVG image, but render a png for an SVG-file to the browser? Historic reasons?
BTW: I have such an image printed out as 72 x 80 cm poster in my private room. It is a crab-nebula photography overlaid from 3 or 4 spectral lengthes. :)
Here is a better, realistic example: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Flag_of_Ecuador.svg
Cheers, Achim