page_title: Comparison of European road signs
section_title: Different typefaces in texts
hierarchical_section_title: Comparison of European road signs / Differences between European traffic signs / Different typefaces in texts
caption_attribution_description: English: A large example of a typical Icelandic Road sign showing the way to lots of farms and villages
context_page_description: European traffic signs present relevant differences between countries despite an apparent uniformity and standardisation. Most European countries refer to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals — it has been adopted by Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. The convention has not been adopted by Ireland, Moldova and Spain.
context_section_description: Albania and Italy use the Alfabeto normale typeface (with the narrow variant Alfabeto stretto), a heavier version of the British Transport typeface.
  Albania has recently started using Arial Narrow Bold typeface.
  Austria and Slovakia use the TERN typeface. In the past, Austria used the Austria Mittelschrift and Engschrift typefaces until 2010. Slovakia used the Universal Grotesk typeface until 2014.
  Belarus, Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine use typefaces based on one specified in a Soviet standard ГОСТ 10807–78. In Belarus, the according standard is СТБ 1140–99. In Ukraine, it is ДСТУ 4100–2002. In Russia, it is ГОСТ Р 52290–2004.
  Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Luxembourg, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, and Serbia use the SNV typeface. Switzerland used this typeface until 2003.
  Bosnia and Herzegovina uses Verdana typeface in mixture with SNV typeface.
  Cyprus, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Turkey, Portugal, and the United Kingdom use the Transport typeface. (Motorway typeface is used on United Kingdom and Ireland motorways)
  Denmark uses the Dansk Vejtavleskrift typeface. The typeface is derived from the British Transport typeface.
  Estonia, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine use the Arial Bold in mixture with other typefaces.
  Finland uses a typeface developed in the 1960s by the former national board of roads and waterways.
  France uses the Caractères typeface.
  Germany, Czech Republic and Latvia use the DIN 1451 typeface.
  Greece used a modified version of the British Transport typeface and, today, uses a modified version of DIN 1451.
  Hungary does not use a defined typeface as the letters are defined one-by-one in the national regulation. The typeface resembles the DIN 1451 typeface closely.
  Hungary has recently started using modified version of Verdana typeface.
  Luxembourg uses Arial (Bold), Caractères Italic, DIN 1451, and the SNV typefaces, often inconsistently.
  The Netherlands uses typefaces derived from FHWA typeface: ANWB/RWS Cc (narrow), Dd (medium) and Ee (wide).
  Norway uses the Trafikkalfabetet typeface.
  Poland does not use a defined typeface as the letters are defined one-by-one in the national regulation. There are three typefaces resembling the defined one, with two of them distributed as non-commercial freeware – Drogowskaz and Tablica drogowa typefaces. The third one, fully compliant with the regulation is available only for road signs making companies.
  Spain used two typefaces in the past: Autopista (derived from FHWA series E modified) for motorways and Carretera Convencional (also known as CCRIGE or Traffic Type Spain D) for other situations. The typeface Carretera Convencional is derived from the British Transport typeface, and is almost identical to the Italian Alfabeto Normale. Since 2014, all new signs use Carretera Convencional regardless of the status of the road.
  Sweden uses the Tratex typeface.
  Switzerland uses the ASTRA-Frutiger typeface since 2003.
  Turkey and Ukraine use the FHWA typeface.
  The United Kingdom uses the Transport typeface.
  Åland has not defined the typeface of the road signs in its traffic law. Therefore they have signs with both Finnish and Swedish (Tratex) typeface.
  In Albania, Andorra, Belarus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Monaco, Russia, San Marino, Sweden, Ukraine and Åland, destinations on direction signs are written in capital letters. In Ireland, they are written in capital letters in English and in lowercase letters in Irish. In Greece, Luxembourg, Slovakia and Switzerland both capital and lowercase are used. In Portugal, names of regions (ex: Algarve) or foreign countries (ex: Spain) are written in capital letters. In the United Kingdom, geographical areas like "THE NORTH", "SOUTH WALES" and "THE WEST" are written in capital letters.
caption: A sign with the use of Transport font in Icelandic
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