UK road signs cheat sheet: every shape and colour explained
The Highway Code sorts every road sign into a handful of families by shape and colour, and once you know the rule you can often guess what a sign means before you're close enough to read it. One page, print it, keep it with your revision notes.
Almost every warning sign is a red-bordered triangle on a white or yellow background, pointing up, with a black symbol showing the hazard. Triangle + red border always means "take care ahead," regardless of what the symbol inside shows.
Bend ahead, or a series of bends
Pedestrians, cyclists or a school crossing ahead
Traffic signals ahead
Slippery road surface ahead
Road narrows or a junction ahead
Family 2 of 3
Regulatory signs (orders)
Signs that give an instruction rather than a warning are almost always circular. The colour tells you whether the order is negative ("must not") or positive ("must do").
Prohibitory — red circle, "must not"
Solid red circle (e.g. no entry)
White circle, red border, black number (speed limit)
Red octagon — unique to STOP
Red-bordered inverted triangle — unique to Give way
Most "must not" signs use a red circle. Two exceptions carry their own unmistakable shape instead, precisely so you never mistake them for anything else: STOP is the only octagonal sign on UK roads, and Give way is the only sign that's an upside-down triangle.
No entry (solid red circle, white bar)
Maximum speed limit (white circle, red border, black number)
No overtaking
STOP — octagon, all traffic must stop
Give way — inverted triangle, give priority to other traffic
Mandatory — blue circle, "must do"
Solid blue circle, white symbol
A solid blue circle with a white symbol is a positive instruction: it tells you what you must do, not what you must avoid.
Turn left (or right) ahead
Ahead only
Mini-roundabout
Minimum speed limit
Segregated pedestrian and cycle route
Family 3 of 3
Informational and direction signs
Rectangular signs give information rather than orders or warnings. On direction signs, the background colour tells you what kind of road you're being pointed towards, before you read a single word on it.
Blue background — motorway
Green background — primary route
White background, black border — local road
Brown background — tourist attraction
Blue background — motorways
Green background — primary routes (major A-roads)
White background, black text — local, non-primary roads
Brown background — tourist and leisure destinations