User:Chiklit/StreetSigns



Despite an apparent uniformity and standardization, European traffic signs presents relevant differences between countries. However most European countries refer to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals — adopted in Europe by Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

(To view this article correctly, make sure you have a high screen resolution. Otherwise, zoom out your web browser).

Differences between European traffic signs
Main differences are related to
 * graphic differences
 * differences in meanings
 * the use of a different colour-code scheme
 * local language texts (sometimes bilingual)





Graphic differences

 * Warning signs in the Republic of Ireland have a diamond shape with a yellow background in place of the standard triangular shape. They diverge from the standards of the rest of Europe.
 * Many pictograms (tunnel, pedestrian, car, etc.) are quite different in many countries.
 * Type of arrows may be different.
 * Fonts of written words

Different typefaces in texts
''These are incomplete. You can help by adding missing countries or fonts.''


 * France uses the Caractères font.
 * Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Kosovo, Latvia and Romania use the DIN 1451 font.
 * Poland uses the Drogowskaz font.
 * Denmark uses the Dansk Vejtavleskrift font.
 * Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Ukraine use the FHWA font.
 * Switzerland uses the Frutiger font.
 * Norway uses the Trafikkalfabetet font.
 * Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Turkey and the United Kingdom use the Transport font.
 * Sweden uses the Tratex font.
 * Slovakia uses the Universal Grotesk font.
 * Estonia, Mongolia and Slovenia use the Arial Narrow Bold in mixture with Helvetica font.
 * Austria and Slovakia use the TERN typeface.
 * Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Luxembourg, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, and Serbia use the SNV typeface. Switzerland used this typeface until 2003.
 * Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine use typefaces based on one specified in a Soviet standard ГОСТ 10807–78 (in Russia since 1 January 2006). In Belarus, the according standard is СТБ 1140–2013. In Ukraine, it is ДСТУ 4100–2014. In Russia, it is ГОСТ Р 52290–2004.
 * Luxembourg uses Arial (Bold), Caractères Italic, DIN 1451, and the SNV typefaces, often inconsistently.
 * Ukraine uses the Road UA typeface, as part of a signage redesign.
 * Hungary does not use a defined typeface as the letters are defined one-by-one in the national regulation. The typeface resembles the DIN 1451 typeface closely.

Warning signs

 * In most European countries, it is indicated by red borders and a white background.
 * An amber background is used in Sweden, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Finland, Iceland, North Macedonia and Poland (in some other countries it means a provisional road work sign).
 * Also, the yield sign/give way sign in Sweden, Serbia, Croatia, Finland, Greece and Poland has a yellow background.

Road works and construction

 * Many countries normally have adopted an orange or amber background.
 * A yellow background is used in France, Italy, Sweden, Estonia, Finland, Croatia, Iceland, Poland, Russia, Slovakia and Romania.

Motorways

 * White texts on a blue background is used in United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Austria, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Latvia and Hungary.
 * White texts on a green background is used in Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Slovenia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia, and Serbia.

Primary roads/Expressways

 * White-on-blue (in this case the same as motorways for most countries, not all) is used in Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Greece, Cyprus, Slovakia, Romania, Latvia, Finland and Netherlands.


 * White-on-green is used in France, Hungary, United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Poland, Portugal and Slovakia.
 * Black-on-yellow is used in Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia.
 * Red-on-white is used in Denmark (though white-on-blue on motorway exits and all overhead gantries)
 * Black-on-white is used in Austria and Spain.

Secondary roads

 * Black-on-white is used in France, United Kingdom, Finland, Ireland, Switzerland and Portugal
 * In Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden, black-on-white indicates only urban roads or urban destinations.

Differences in meanings

 * Sometimes similar signs have little differences in meanings, following the local traffic codes.
 * European countries use the metric system (distances in kilometres or metres, speeds in kilometres per hour, heights/widths in metres) with the exception of the United Kingdom, where distances, speeds (miles per hour), heights/widths are still indicated in imperial measurements (miles, yards, feet, and inches).

Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium
Comparison of traffic signs in seven countries of Europe (Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Netherlands and Belgium).

Switzerland, Austria, Ireland, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Norway
Comparison of traffic signs in seven further countries of Europe (Switzerland, Austria, Ireland, Poland, Sweden, Finland and Norway).

Greece, Czech Republic and Russia
Comparison of traffic signs in three further countries of Europe (Greece, Czech Republic and Russia).