Road signs in Iceland

A sign displaying the location of scattered villages and homesteads in a rural area of Iceland

Road signs in Iceland conform to the general pattern of those used in most other European countries, with certain design elements borrowed from British and Swedish practice. Signs tend to be more sparsely employed than in other European countries, especially in rural areas.

Design

Distances and other measurements are displayed in metric units. All text within the main signs and on auxiliary signs is exclusively in Icelandic with very few exceptions.

Colours and shapes

Icelandic road signs most closely resemble their Swedish counterparts, with rounded corners and yellow backgrounds. However, there are many differences in detail, especially in the silhouettes used.

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 typeface 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.

Gallery

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