gravitystorm/openstreetmap-carto — pull request #141 by brycenesbitt (2013-08-29 19:04:07+00:00)
Title: Ranger station 2

> Please separate out different feature requests into different pull requests - there's every chance that only some of the features will be added, and some won't.
Done

> Please consider the colour of the icon. e.g. Does black fit in with similar features?
Changed color to match fire station & police station.

> Can your feature be added without adding another icon? Could share meaning with tourist information centres on this general purpose map?

No, not really. The distinction is the "official" outpost of a government or conservation agency landowner. The flag symbology gives it that official look, where (i) can represent a wider range of tourist information centres.

The exact symbol uploaded here is the open version standardized by the USA Federal Government. The Canadian version is only slightly different with the flag at the peak of the roof and a narrower building. There does not seem to be an ISO equivalent. ( https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:grs:7000:4:2760 is the ISO (i) symbol).

> finally, wiki voting is only related to whether people who vote on the wiki like the tags, and isn't related to whether it should be included in the style!

Of course. The wiki voting only shows some process has taken place. The USA National Park Service mapping effort is using the tag, with the first upload for Great Smoky Mountain National park. The are moving from amenity=police to amenity=ranger_station. Their initial update "tagged to the rendering" and amenity=police was as close as they could get, with tourism=information is tagged alongside.

So the lack of an appropriate icon choice led to odd tagging. This symbol serves a good strong and clear need. It is the expected symbol for this type of feature in part of the world. I'm not sure we'll ever get down to a global symbol, but maybe... check back with ISO in ten years.