Sign Shape, Color, and Symbol Recognition
Sign shape and color give you the sign's meaning before you read the words. Minnesota's exam uses shape, color, and symbol recognition as a fast filter.
Core rules
- Octagon: STOP. Inverted triangle: YIELD. Diamond: warning. Pentagon: school. Round: railroad advance warning. Crossbuck: railroad crossing. Vertical rectangle: regulatory. Horizontal rectangle: guide.
- Red means stop, yield, or prohibition; yellow means warning; orange means construction; green means guide and destinations; blue means motorist services; brown means recreation; white means regulation; fluorescent yellow-green means school, pedestrian, or bicycle.
- Symbols repeat the message: a curve arrow for a bend, a pedestrian figure for a crossing, a bicycle for a bike route, a train for a railroad.
- A red circle with a slash means the pictured action is prohibited.
Worked example
You see a round yellow sign with a black X and the letters RR. The shape is round, which is reserved for railroad advance warning; the color is yellow, which means warning; the symbol is the crossbuck. The sign does not mean stop immediately, but it tells you a crossing is ahead and you should slow and look.
Traps
- Confusing the fluorescent yellow-green school sign with the standard yellow warning sign.
- Reading an orange work-zone sign as a warning of a permanent hazard.
- Treating a brown recreation sign as a guide to a city center.
- Missing a red slash and reading a prohibition as permission.