Road signs in Iceland

A sign displaying the location of scattered farms and homesteads in a rural area of Iceland

Road signs in Iceland are visual communication devices placed along roads and highways throughout the country to provide information, warnings, and guidance to motorists and pedestrians. Iceland never ratified the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, but road signs in Iceland conform to the general pattern of those used in most other European countries, with certain design elements borrowed from Danish and Swedish practice. Signs tend to be more sparsely employed than in other European countries, especially in rural areas.

Most road signs in Iceland are not retroreflective, making them harder to see at night.

Design

Distances and other measurements are displayed in metric units. All text within the main signs and on auxiliary signs is exclusively in Icelandic with very few exceptions.

Colours and shapes

Icelandic road signs most closely resemble their Swedish counterparts, with rounded corners and yellow backgrounds. However, there are many differences in detail, especially in the silhouettes used.

Shape and colour are used to indicate the function of signs:

Type of signShapeColours
BorderBackgroundText/Symbols
WarningTriangularRedYellowBlack
ProhibitionCircularRedYellowBlack
Mandatory instructionsCircularWhiteBlueWhite
SupplementaryRectangularWhiteBlueWhite
RedYellowBlack
Directions, sometimesRectangularBlackYellowBlack
InformationRectangularWhiteBlueWhite

Typeface

A version of the Transport typeface employed on road signs in the UK – modified to include accented characters and the Icelandic letters æ, ð (eth) and þ (thorn) – is used on Icelandic road signs.

The original legal source for these is the Icelandic Transport Authority,[1] first ratified in article 289/1995[2] and subsequently amended in 2019 by 365/2019[3] and 548/2019.[4]

Warning signs

Prohibitory signs

Mandatory signs

Information signs

Service signs

Route and direction signs

Directional signs within the urban Capital Region of Iceland (including Reykjavík and its surrounding areas) have a blue on white design. Outside the Capital Region, signs are generally black on yellow.

Direction signs

Temporary signs

Additional signs

Historic signs

References

  1. ↑ "Samgöngustofa". www.samgongustofa.is. Retrieved 2025-02-23.
  2. ↑ "REGLUGERÐ - um umferðarmerki og notkun þeirra, nr. 289/1995" [REGULATION - on traffic signs and their use, No. 289/1995] (PDF) (in Icelandic). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-04-18.
  3. ↑ "REGLUGERÐ - um breytingu á reglugerð um umferðarmerki og notkun þeirra, nr. 289/1995 með síðari breytingum" [REGULATION - amending the Regulation on traffic signs and their use, No. 289/1995, as amended] (in Icelandic).
  4. ↑ "REGLUGERÐ - um breytingu á reglugerð um umferðarmerki og notkun þeirra, nr. 289/1995 með síðari breytingum" [REGULATION - amending the Regulation on traffic signs and their use, No. 289/1995, as amended] (in Icelandic).
  5. ↑ "Traffic Signs and road markings in Iceland". carrentalss.com. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  6. ↑ "Traffic Signs and road markings in Iceland". carrentalss.com. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Karlsson, Guðni (2021). Driving in Iceland. Netökuskólinn ehf. p. 165-172.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 "Traffic Signs and road markings in Iceland".
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.