Road signs in Iceland
Encyclopedia
Road signs in Iceland
conform to the general pattern of those used in most other Europe
an countries, with certain design elements borrowed from British
practice. Signs tend to be more sparsely employed than in other European countries, especially in rural
areas.
employed on road signs in the UK – modified to include accented characters and the Icelandic
letters ð (eth) and þ (thorn
) – is used on Icelandic road signs.
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
conform to the general pattern of those used in most other Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an countries, with certain design elements borrowed from British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
practice. Signs tend to be more sparsely employed than in other European countries, especially in rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
areas.
Colours and shapes
Shape and colour are used to indicate the function of signs:| Type of sign | Shape | Border | Background colour | Text/Symbol |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warning | Triangular | Red | Yellow | Black |
| Prohibition | Circular | Red | Yellow | Black |
| Mandatory instructions | Circular | White | Blue | White |
| Supplementary | Rectangular | White Red |
Blue Yellow |
White Black |
| Directions, sometimes | Rectangular | Black | Yellow | Black |
| Information | Rectangular | White | Blue | White |
Typeface
A version of the Transport typefaceTransport (typeface)
Transport is a sans serif typeface designed for road signs in the United Kingdom. It was created between 1957 and 1963 by Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert as part of their work as designers for the Department of Transport's Anderson and Worboys committees....
employed on road signs in the UK – modified to include accented characters and the Icelandic
Icelandic language
Icelandic is a North Germanic language, the main language of Iceland. Its closest relative is Faroese.Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Historically, it was the westernmost of the Indo-European languages prior to the...
letters ð (eth) and þ (thorn
Thorn (letter)
Thorn or þorn , is a letter in the Old English, Old Norse, and Icelandic alphabets, as well as some dialects of Middle English. It was also used in medieval Scandinavia, but was later replaced with the digraph th. The letter originated from the rune in the Elder Fuþark, called thorn in the...
) – is used on Icelandic road signs.