John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints
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Road Signs In The USA And Canada - Introduction - Colours, Shapes And Types Of Road Signs
Introduction
The meanings of most of the road signs used in the USA and Canada will be obvious to British drivers. For exceptions which are detailed individually, see the Road Sign Index.
On this page, the word "portrait" means a rectangle whose height is greater than its width and the word "landscape" means a rectangle whose width is greater than its height.
Because I live in Britain I use British spelling on this web site. Actual road signs in the USA use American spelling of course.
Summary - Background Colours
| Black | Used in the USA for night speed limits or truck speed limits, and in Canada for lane usage diagrams |
| Blue | Services (gas, food, lodging, etc) (also rarely used for school signs) |
| Brown | Recreational, cultural or historical site |
| Green | Signposting |
| Orange | Construction (road works) |
| Red | Prohibition |
| Yellow | Warning |
| White | Used for a wide variety of purposes |
Summary - Outline Colours
| Green | Permitted (used much more frequently in Canada) |
| Red | Prohibition |
Summary - Shapes
| Circle - with yellow background | Railroad crossing |
| Circle - red circle with red diagonal line | Prohibition |
| Diagonal cross ("crossbuck") | Railroad crossing |
| Diamond | Warning (but an outline diamond symbol indicates a restricted lane |
| Octagon | Stop |
| Pentagon (child's drawing of a building) | School (a pentagonal highway marker shield is used for county roads) |
| Rectangle | Used for a wide variety of purposes |
| Triangle (inverted) | Yield |
| Shields | Highway marker shields |
Wording and Symbols
Many US road signs have two versions, one version having wording and an equivalent sign having a symbol instead. A few signs have both wording and a symbol. Signs with wording only could be a problem for non English speakers.
In some parts of Canada, road signs with wording are in both English and French, and in the Province of Québec road signs with wording are in French only.
Shapes and Colours of Road Signs
In most cases road signs have thin borders of the same colour as their wording or symbol, with rounded corners.
Construction Zone Signs (Road Works Signs)
Shape: rectangular (landscape), or the same as the equivalent normal sign.
Background colour: orange.
Foreground colour (colour of wording or symbols): black.
Additional comments:
- As well as signs indicating "Construction Ahead", "Flagman Ahead" etc, many normal warning signs such as "Bend Ahead" have their construction zone equivalents with the black on orange colour scheme instead of their normal colours.
- Fines for speeding and other driving offences are doubled in construction zones in the USA.
Cyclist Signs
Shape: ellipse with its longer axis vertical
Background colour: green
Foreground colour (colour of wording or symbols): white.
Additional comments:
- These signs may be on a larger plate.
- These signs for specifically for cyclists. They mainly tend to indicate cycle paths.
Directional Signs (Signposts)
Shape: rectangular (landscape).
Background colour: green.
Foreground colour (colour of wording or symbols): white.
Additional comments:
- At many intersections the sole means of signposting is by means of highway marker shields, arrows and geographical direction plates showing which way to turn, with no mention of any town names. This is by no means universal however and many signposts do include town names.
- A sign with a highway marker shield and a geographical direction place and/or an indication of the distances to various towns is often sited shortly after an intersection (road junction) or an Interstate on ramp, to help you confirm that you have taken the correct road. Sometimes these signs give the distance to the junction with another road instead of the distance to a town.
Evacuation Route Signs
Shape: circular.
Background colour: blue.
Foreground colour (colour of wording or symbols): white.
Examples:
- Tsunami (tidal wave) evacuation route signs, seen along the Oregon and Washington State coasts.
Night Speed Limit Signs
Shape: rectangular (portrait).
Background colour: black.
Foreground colour (colour of wording or symbols): white.
No Passing Zone Sign
Shape: a triangular pennant pointing to the right.
Background colour: yellow.
Foreground: The wording "No Passing Zone" in black letters.
Additional comments
- This sign is unique in always being sited on the lefthand side of the road.
- This sign is much more widely used in some states than others.
Parking Prohibited Signs
Shape: rectangular (portrait).
Background colour: white.
Foreground colour (colour of wording or symbols): red.
Parking Restricted Signs (Limited Duration, Etc)
Shape: rectangular (portrait).
Background colour: white.
Foreground colour (colour of wording or symbols): green.
Prohibitive Signs ("Do Not" Signs)
Shape: rectangular (portrait).
Background colour: white.
Foreground: red circle with one red diagonal, on top of a black symbol which indicates what is prohibited.
Examples:
- No Left Turn
- No Parking
- No U Turn
Railroad Grade Crossing Signs (Level Crossing Signs) - Advance Warning
Shape: circular.
Background colour: yellow.
Foreground: two black diagonal lines forming an "X", with two black letter R's, one R being in the lefthand segment and the other R in the righthand segment.
Railroad Grade Crossing Signs (Level Crossing Signs) - At The Actual Crossing
Shape: large diagonal cross.
Background colours: white.
Foreground: one arm bears the word "Railroad", the other word "Crossing", both in black lettering.
Additional comments:
- Sometimes there is an additional plate indicating the number of tracks.
Recreational And Cultural Signs (Signposts To Recreational Facilities and Tourist Attractions Such as National Parks)
Shape: rectangular (landscape). Occasionally a trapezium shape is used, forming a point indicating the appropriate direction. Signs with symbols only are normally square.
Background colour: brown.
Foreground colour (colour of wording or symbols): white.
Additional comments:
- These lettering on these signs is normally in the standard sans-serif road sign font. However, manufactured signs in US National Park Service areas use a serif font instead. In addition, there are many hand-crafted signposts in National Parks and similar recreation areas. In Canadian National Parks the signs have a green/brown background colour and a green/yellow foreground colour for text and symbols.
Regulatory Signs (Mandatory Signs)
Shape: rectangular (portrait).
Background colour: white.
Foreground colour (colour of wording or symbols): black.
Examples:
Additional comments:
- Speed limits are specified in miles per hour in the USA but in kilometres per hour in Canada.
- On some roads, especially some Interstates, there are separate speed limits for trucks and/or at night. Night speed limit signs have white text on a black background.
School Signs
Shape: pentagonal (five sided) with the point at the top (a rectangle with a triangle on top - the shape is meant to resemble that of a traditional schoolhouse building).
Background colour: new signs are fluorescent yellow-green; older signs are yellow.
Foreground colour (colour of wording or symbols): black.
Services Signs (Signposts to Gas, Food, Lodging, Etc)
Shape: rectangular (landscape).
Background colour: blue.
Foreground colour (colour of wording or symbols): white.
Additional comments:
- At many Interstate exits there are signs indicating the direction and distance to each specific gas station (petrol station), restaurant and motel.
Stop Sign
Shape: octagonal (eight sided) with the top, bottom and side edges of the octagon being horizontal.
Background colour: red.
Foreground: the word "STOP" in white letters.
Additional comments:
- An additional plate indicates if the intersection is a Four Way Stop or similar.
Warning Signs
Shape: mostly diamond shaped but there are some exceptions.
Background colour: yellow.
Foreground colour (colour of wording or symbols): black. In a small number of cases other colours are used as well. For example, the graphical version of warning sign for Traffic Lights Ahead includes the red, amber and green colours of the lights.
Examples:
- Bend Ahead
- Intersection Ahead (i.e. road junction ahead)
- Road Narrows Ahead
- Exit Only
Additional comments:
- In the USA and Canada traffic lights change directly from red to green with no red and amber phase.
Weigh Station Signs
Shape: landscape rectangle.
Background colour: black.
Foreground colour (colour of wording or symbols): white.
Additional comments:
- Weigh stations are often seen on Interstate Highways, frequently near state lines. They are used to check that trucks are not overloaded. They should not be entered by normal vehicles. Weigh stations are frequently seen closed.
Yield (Give Way) Sign
Shape: downward pointing triangle.
Background colour: thick red border with a white interior.
Foreground: the word "YIELD" in red letters.
Arrows and Geographical Direction Plates
Plates bearing arrows are often seen under highway marker shields to indicate which way to turn at intersections (road junctions). For example, to join US50 West you might turn left while to join US50 East you might turn right.
An arrow pointing left or right without a vertical tail indicates that you should turn at the place where the sign is sited:
An arrow pointing left or right with a vertical tail indicates that the actual turn is not where the sign is located but a short distance ahead, usually at the next intersection:
A double-headed arrow indicates that the road in question goes in both directions at this intersection.
Diagonal arrows are often used as appropriate when roads meet at an angle other than 90 degrees.
A additional plate bearing the word "North", "South", "East" or "West" indicates the direction of travel.
Cross Street Bridge Signs
Where one road crosses another by means of a bridge there are often signs underneath the bridge indicating the name of the street or road which passes above, for the benefit of drivers on the lower road. There may also be a sign for drivers on the upper road indicating the name of the street or road being crossed, although this is less common.
Highway Marker Shields
See separate page.
River Bridges
Wherever a road crosses a river there is usually a road sign which indicates the name of the river.
Street Name Signs
At every intersection of named streets a pole holds two signs mounted at right angles one under the other, which indicate the names of the streets. Sometimes the block number is also shown. In large towns and cities much larger street name signs are often suspended above intersections. These signs are an extremely useful aid to navigation.
Beware of streets changing their names along their length. In small and medium sized towns this is very rare but in large cities where what were once separate suburbs have now merged together it is not uncommon.
Driving
Driving - Road Signs, Signposts And Highway Marker Shields
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Most recently modified 17-Jun-04