Pattern formation (or self-assembly) driven by phase separation coupled to Coulombic interactions is fundamental to a wide range of applications, examples of which include soft matter lithography via di-block copolymers, membrane design using poly-electrolytes, organic photovoltaics, and ionic liquids. I will first review the basic concepts of symmetry breaking that lead to emergence of regular patterns and then show by using two continuum case models, charged diblock co-polymers and ionic liquids, that although self-assembly in electrolytes is a gradient flow system, it surprisingly displays several fundamental features that are related to far from equilibrium (reaction-diffusion) systems and thus, allow for novel realizations/interpretations, along with new strategies for applications.