Ultracold atomic gases host a wealth of symmetry breaking and topological excitations, because they  involve different types of interactions  having distinct symmetries and energy scales. Consequently, the system undergoes spontaneous symmetry breaking in a number of different ways, producing a rich variety of topological excitations such as  non-Abelian vortices, monopoles, skyrmions, and knots. In the talk, I will give an overview of the subject and discuss the implications in quantum turbulence and the Kibble-Zurek mechanism.