Sign shapes — New Hampshire Permit Test
Sign shapes on the New Hampshire permit test — 7 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
An eight-sided sign always means stop.
It is the only sign of that shape on the road, so a driver can read it from behind or in the dark by outline alone.
Octagon (8 sides) Stop.
A downward-pointing triangle means yield: slow down and give other vehicles the right of way.
Yield and stop are different duties, and the shape is how a driver tells them apart before reading a word.
Down pointed triangle Yield (slow down and give other vehicles the right of way)
A pennant, a sideways triangle found on the left side of the road, warns of no passing zones ahead.
It sits on the left because that is the side a driver looks toward before pulling out to pass.
Pennant (sideways triangle) No passing
A rectangular sign carries traffic regulations or directions to drivers.
It is the plainest shape on the road because it carries the plainest information: what the rule is, or where you are going.
Rectangle Traffic regulations or directions to drivers.
A diamond-shaped sign warns of special hazards ahead, with pictures or words describing what the hazard is.
The shape says there is something to expect and the picture says what, which is faster to read than a sentence.
Diamond Warning (special hazards are ahead – pictures or words will describe what the hazard is).
A five-sided sign indicates a school zone and school crossing.
It is the only five-sided sign in use, so it stands out among the diamonds around a school.
Pentagon (5 sides) School zone and school crossing.
A round sign gives advance warning of a railroad crossing.
It appears well before the tracks, which is what makes it a warning rather than the crossing marker itself.
Circle Advance warning of a railroad crossing.
On the test
What does an eight-sided sign always mean?
Stop. It is the only sign of that shape on the road, so a driver can read it from behind or in the dark by outline alone. New Hampshire Driver's Manual, p.21: “Octagon (8 sides) Stop.”
How this works
Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.
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Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.
What it costs
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All New Hampshire permit topics
Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against New Hampshire Driver's Manual, published by the New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-16.
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/NH.pdf (New Hampshire Driver's Manual, Rev. 11/25, New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles, retrieved 2026-09-14)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/NH.pages.txt (plain pdftotext over that PDF; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/SOURCES.json (sha256, folio offset 6, folioMarker, nonLawPages, signGalleryPages and the extraction flag, each with its basis)