Road Signs
South Africa uses 139 official road signs, and the learner’s licence test can draw a question from any of them. Rather than memorising a long list, it helps to know that every sign belongs to one of five families — and once you recognise the family by its shape and colour, you can usually work out roughly what a sign means even before you’ve studied it individually.
Browse by category
Each category links through to every sign inside it.
Warning Signs
Red-bordered triangles. They warn you what’s coming — a curve, a crossing, a hazard — so you can react in time.
Regulatory Signs
Red-bordered circles (plus Stop’s octagon and Yield’s inverted triangle). These carry the force of law: stop, yield, prohibited, reserved.
Information Signs
Blue rectangles and squares. Purely informational — facilities, transport points, directions — nothing you’re required to obey.
Temporary Signs
Yellow instead of white — always tied to road works. The colour swap is the tell: yellow means “this rule is temporary.”
Restriction Plates
Small rectangular plates mounted below another sign — they narrow when, or to whom, that sign’s rule actually applies.
How to read any sign, before you’ve memorised it
Shape and colour alone answer most of the question.
- Red triangle, point up? It’s a warning. Slow down and pay attention — it’s telling you about a hazard ahead, not giving you an instruction.
- Red circle, or a red octagon, or an inverted red triangle? It’s regulatory. You’re legally required to obey it.
- Plain blue rectangle or circle? If it’s a circle, it’s a mandatory instruction (you must go this way). If it’s a square or rectangle, it’s informational only.
- Yellow instead of white? The rule is temporary — almost always road works.
- A small plate underneath a bigger sign? Read the plate — it limits exactly when or to whom the main sign applies.
A few to know first
The signs that appear most often in real driving and on the test.
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