Sign shapes and colors — Minnesota Permit Test

Sign shapes and colors are coded so a driver gets the general idea before the words can be read.

At speed you see the shape and the color first. The wording is what confirms it.

The shapes and colors of signs are coded to give you a general idea of what the sign means, even before you can read it up close.

Red on a regulatory sign prohibits and commands, while white regulates.

Red is the color the eye finds first, so it carries the rules that cannot wait.

Red: Prohibits and commands

Yellow warns, and yellow-green warns and controls in pedestrian and bicycle crossings and school areas.

The yellow-green shade was chosen because the eye picks it out of a street scene faster than plain yellow.

Yellow-green: Warns and controls in pedestrian and bicycle crossings and school areas

Orange warns and controls in construction zones.

One color for temporary hazards, so a driver knows the layout may not match the road they remember.

Orange: Warns and controls in construction zones

Green guides and informs, blue describes services for motorists, and brown marks historic, cultural or recreational sites.

Three colors for three kinds of information, none of them a rule you have to obey.

Blue: Describes services for motorists

Minnesota signs, signals and pavement markings follow national standards.

The sign means the same thing in every state, which is what lets a driver cross a state line safely.

Minnesota signs, signals and pavement markings follow national standards.

What do the shape and color of a road sign tell a driver?

The general idea of what the sign means. At speed you see the shape and the color first. The wording is what confirms it. Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.55: “The shapes and colors of signs are coded to give you a general idea of what the sign means, even before you can read it up close.”