Sign colors, shapes, and symbol meanings
Sign color and shape let you identify a sign's purpose before you can read the words. Delaware's exam tests the standard color code, the small set of shapes that carry fixed meanings, and common symbols such as the red slash and the railroad crossbuck.
Color code
- Red: stop, yield, prohibition, wrong way, do not enter.
- Yellow: warning.
- Orange: construction and maintenance.
- Green: guide and destinations.
- Blue: motorist services.
- Brown: recreation and cultural areas.
- White: regulatory; black is used for messages and symbols.
- Fluorescent yellow-green: school, pedestrian, and bicycle warnings.
Shapes with fixed meanings
- Octagon: stop.
- Inverted triangle: yield.
- Diamond: warning.
- Pentagon: school zone or school crossing.
- Round: railroad advance warning.
- Crossbuck X: railroad crossing.
- Rectangle: regulatory or guide, depending on color.
Symbols
A red circle with a diagonal slash means "no" or "prohibited." Arrows show required or permitted direction. A black "RXR" on a round yellow sign means a railroad crossing is ahead. The crossbuck itself means yield to trains.
Worked example
A white rectangular sign shows a black left-turn arrow with a red circle and slash over it. The white background makes it regulatory, and the slash means the movement is prohibited. It is a "No Left Turn" sign, not a warning that a left turn is ahead. You must not turn left there.
Traps that cost marks
The red slash means prohibition, not warning. A yellow diamond is a warning even if it contains an arrow. The pentagon is school, not pedestrian crossing. The round yellow sign is only an advance warning; the crossbuck marks the crossing itself. Do not read a green sign as regulatory just because it is large.
Key points
- Red means stop, yield, or prohibition.
- Yellow warns; orange means work zone.
- Green guides; blue serves; brown marks recreation.
- Octagon is stop; inverted triangle is yield; diamond warns.
- Pentagon is school; round warns of a railroad ahead.
- A red circle with a slash means prohibited.