Sign Colors, Shapes, and Symbols
Sign Colors, Shapes, and Symbols
Mississippi uses the national color and shape system, so you can often identify a sign's meaning before you read it. The exam tests red, yellow, fluorescent yellow-green, orange, green, blue, brown, white, and black, plus octagon, inverted triangle, diamond, pentagon, circle, crossbuck, and rectangle shapes.
Core rules
- Red: Stop, yield, prohibition, or danger. Examples: STOP, YIELD, DO NOT ENTER.
- Yellow: General warning. A yellow diamond warns of a condition ahead.
- Fluorescent yellow-green: School, pedestrian, and bicycle warnings.
- Orange: Construction and maintenance.
- Green: Guide and destination information.
- Blue: Services and motorist assistance.
- Brown: Recreation and cultural areas.
- White: Regulatory signs and some guide text; black provides contrast.
- Shapes: Octagon = STOP; inverted triangle = YIELD; diamond = warning; pentagon = school; circle = railroad advance warning; crossbuck = railroad crossing; rectangle = regulatory or guide.
Worked example
A sign is an inverted triangle with a red border and white center. The shape alone identifies it as YIELD. You should slow and stop only if traffic requires. If the same sign were an octagon, it would be STOP, requiring a complete stop.
Traps
Do not rely on color alone; a yellow sign is not always a warning. Do not confuse a pentagon school sign with a diamond warning. Do not treat a crossbuck as a traffic signal. Do not ignore black-and-white regulatory signs because they look plain.