The term regulatory sign describes a range of signs that are used to indicate or reinforce traffic laws, regulations or requirements which apply either at all times or at specified times or places upon a street or highway, the disregard of which may constitute a violation, or signs in general that regulate public behavior in places open to the public.

Traffic signs

Regulatory traffic signs follow international conventions, usually being:

• White circle or rectangle with red border and black pictogram and/or words
• Blue circle or rectangle with white border and white pictogram
• Red rectangle with white border and white writing
• Red octagon with white border and white writing (exclusively STOP sign^[1])

Non-traffic signs

Examples of non-traffic types of regulatory signs might be tow-away signs for vehicles without disabled parking stickers or no-smoking signs where there are laws prohibiting smoking.

See also

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