Sign shapes and colors — North Carolina Permit Test

Shape and color make it possible to recognize the kinds of highway signs at a glance; traffic signs are divided into three types: regulatory, warning, and guide or informational.

You read a sign’s shape from far away, long before its words. Knowing the three types tells you what kind of message is coming.

Traffic signs are divided into three types: 1. Regulatory Signs

The eight-sided octagon shape is used for stop signs only; the word STOP is printed in white on a red background.

No other sign shares the shape, so even a stop sign covered in snow is still a stop sign.

The octagonal shape is used for stop signs only.

The yield sign is a triangle with the point at the bottom, red and white, with the word YIELD in large letters at the top.

The point-down triangle is as distinctive as the octagon. Seen from behind, its shape still tells you what the other side faces.

The yield sign is triangular shaped with the point at the bottom. This sign is red and white with the word “YIELD” in large letters at the top.

Rectangular and square signs, normally black and white or red and white, show speed limits and other regulations such as NO U-TURN or KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS, and failing to obey them is a traffic violation.

A rectangle in black and white is a rule, not advice. Ignoring one is a ticket, not a lapse of judgment.

Rectangular and square-shaped signs, which are normally black and white or red and white, are also used to show speed limits and other regulations.

Diamond-shaped signs are caution or warning signs, normally black on yellow; when black on orange they warn of construction or maintenance areas.

The diamond warns; it does not command. Yellow is the ordinary road, orange is a road being worked on.

Diamond-shaped signs are also caution or warning signs. They are normally black on yellow, but when they are black on orange, they warn of conditions for construction or maintenance areas.

The pennant-shaped yellow warning sign emphasizes the rectangular DO NOT PASS sign; it sits on the left side of the road and points to the beginning of the no-passing zone.

The pennant is the only sign posted on the left. Its point shows exactly where the solid line, and the ban, begins.

The pennant is located on the left side of the road and points to the beginning of the no-passing zone (solid yellow line in your lane).

What are the three types of traffic signs?

Regulatory, warning, and guide or informational. You read a sign’s shape from far away, long before its words. Knowing the three types tells you what kind of message is coming. North Carolina Driver Handbook, p.83: “Traffic signs are divided into three types: 1. Regulatory Signs”