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How position and terrain are drawn: topographic and nautical chart symbols, cartographic conventions, survey marks and navigational aids.
Here when the symbol appears on a map, a chart or a navigational instrument. Road signs are filed under road and transport even where they are the same information at ground level.
Officially standardised through national mapping agencies and IHO chart specifications, and strongly jurisdictional: the national symbol sets are recorded as sets because they differ.
All 557symbols in this domain, A–Z.
A marked opening driven horizontally into a hillside.
A rotating light whose colours identify the field type.
A bordered square holding ground signals.
A circle with runway strokes across it.
A ring of dots around a point.
A hatched boundary round a restricted volume.
A triangle marking a named position.
Two broad rectangles where the approach path meets the runway.
A rotor shape attached to a unit icon.
A dot beneath an arc inside a unit frame.
A parachute canopy attached to a unit icon.
A national prefix and a unique identifier painted on the airframe.
A mark for an automatic identification transmitter.
White and blue swallow-tail: a diver is down, keep clear at slow speed.
Fine sorted material marking river deposits.
A grade that is an opinion.
A patterned mid-level layer of rounded cloudlets.
A labelled point where ammunition is issued.
A wave shape attached to a unit icon.
A shank with a crossbar and two curved arms, marking anchorages and maritime things generally.
An anchor mark within an outlined area.
An anchor mark showing where a vessel may anchor.
Red and white stripes, tapering.
A line with regular teeth marking an excavated obstacle.
A side elevation showing altitudes along a final approach.
A map fill marking cultivated ground.
Four X marks above a unit frame, marking a field army.
Five X marks above a unit frame, marking an army group.
A filled dot inside a unit frame.
An enclosed area where a force gathers before an operation.
Five levels, not evenly spaced.
Twenty-six words standing for letters over a radio.
A pair of wings inside a unit frame.
A broad hollow arrow showing a route of movement.
Two angles fixing a direction from where you stand.
Angular marks marking a fine-grained lava.
Colour standing for depth.
Two vertical bars above a unit frame, marking a battalion.
Red-and-yellow, red, black-and-white chequered — and the one that is not a warning.
One bit, sent a hundred miles.
Wind force 0 to 12, described by what it does rather than measured.
A numbered metal band on a bird's leg.
A domed metal bolt set into masonry.
A marked point recording where the ground was drilled.
An H across a boundary showing shared responsibility.
A line with echelon marks dividing areas of responsibility.
A fixed stone or marker defining a legal boundary.
Plain red swallow-tail: dangerous cargo.
A maker's name impressed into a brick's recess.
A single X above a unit frame, marking a brigade.
A dashed line marking a right of way for vehicles.
A T-shaped mark on a plan showing who maintains a boundary.
A number identifying a defined land parcel.
A stacked pile of stones marking a route, a summit or a place.
A closed line with hachures marking a collapsed crater.
A triangle representing a tent, marking a camping site on a map.
A buoy with two cone topmarks, saying which side of a danger holds safe water.
A labelled point where casualties are gathered for evacuation.
Two great circles drawn across a star chart.
A running distance measured along a route.
The stated level all depths are measured from.
A numbered circle marking a control point on a route.
A retort shape inside a unit frame.
Yellow chevrons over pavement that must not be used.
A smaller figure in a lifejacket.
A branching incised channel figure.
A tiered tower in profile.
Clustered closed depressions.
Stacked contour-following hatches.
A crenellated line with towers.
The national mapping symbol vocabulary.
Fine curved streaks marking high ice cloud.
A strike line with a tick, for a plane of splitting.
A line with hatching or a rock-face texture on the falling side.
A mark showing where a pitch ends.
A small mark showing fixed protection.
A mark naming the hardest section.
A line traced up a photograph or drawing.
How much of the station circle is filled — eighths of the sky.
A cast iron post bearing the City of London arms.
A solid band marking a coal seam.
A marked point for a coastguard watch station.
A line with solid triangles along one side, marking advancing cold air.
A flag staff attached to a unit frame.
A single vertical bar above a unit frame, marking a company.
A star-like figure of radiating points marking the cardinal directions on a map or chart.
A dotted fault line beneath younger cover.
Rounded pebble shapes marking a conglomerate unit.
The stated height difference between adjacent contour lines.
A closed line joining points of equal height, showing the shape of the land.
A pictorial description sheet.
Tinted bands and figures giving a volume's ceiling and floor.
The printed key explaining a map's symbols.
A line marking air streams meeting and rising.
A woodland fill marking cut-and-regrown stems.
An abbreviation marking coral on the seabed.
Three X marks above a unit frame, marking a corps.
A lettered line marking where a section is drawn.
Names and axis descriptions classifying a crystal's symmetry.
A heaped cloud drawn with a spreading anvil top.
A domed shape on a flat base, marking heaped fair-weather cloud.
A marked point where a vessel clears customs.
A horizontal bar above a broad arrow, chiselled into stone.
A hull outline with a dotted danger line around it.
A raft on a crane arm.
A celestial coordinate measured in degrees north or south.
A labelled point where contamination is removed.
A figure falling into water inside a yellow warning triangle.
Yellow with a broad blue band: keep clear, I am manoeuvring with difficulty.
A contour with inward ticks, marking ground that falls.
A line joining points of equal depth.
A small number printed on a chart, giving the depth of water at that point.
A narrow solid arrow showing a specific line of attack.
Arrows leading to a threshold set back from the paved end.
Two X marks above a unit frame, marking a division.
A fine line marking a cut watercourse.
The full string of code flags flown for ceremony, spelling nothing.
Commas standing for drops too small to be rain.
A labelled area where parachuted troops or stores land.
An elongated oval marking an ice-moulded hill.
An underlined number showing ground exposed at low water.
A plain arrow showing the outgoing stream.
A spiral mark showing circulating water.
A figure descending a rope ladder over a ship's side.
A hood for getting out through smoke.
An enclosed area where fires are concentrated on an enemy.
A shape like a squared letter E inside a unit frame.
A beacon with radiating waves, marking an emergency position-indicating radio beacon.
A winding ridge marking a subglacial stream bed.
A heavy line with ticks or arrows showing which side moved.
A plan in a tube by the gangway.
A labelled flap in a duct.
A yellow plate marked H with two numbers.
A helmet, suit and breathing set.
Two handheld flags whose angles spell letters, one at a time.
A three-figure altitude flown on a standard pressure setting.
A feathered arrow showing the incoming stream.
A cast metal plate with a serial number, set into a wall.
Three stacked horizontal lines marking visibility below a kilometre.
An arrowed line showing where rock has been bent.
A strike line with a tick, for a metamorphic fabric.
A finger post naming a right.
The sun, cloud and raindrop icons — a different system from the chart.
Paint bands and dots marking trees for felling or retention.
A marked area where the bottom is obstructed.
Blue for cold, red for warm, purple for occluded — where colour is available.
A deeply founded pillar anchoring the levelling network.
A worded warning tied to a defined Beaufort force.
A plan line showing a boundary's approximate position.
A bell or horn with radiating lines, marking the general emergency alarm.
A code that shares a prefix with its neighbours.
Colours standing for the age of the rock beneath.
Letters printed on a map naming the rock's age.
A line marking scratches cut by moving ice.
Banded lines marking a coarsely foliated rock.
A stable ground mark used for satellite positioning.
Crosses and dashes marking a coarse igneous rock.
The lines of latitude and longitude.
The ruled squares over a map, from which a position is quoted as a grid reference.
Letters laid out on the ground.
A triangle with a dot, marking ice pellets from a storm.
A marked point for the port authority office.
An angular infinity-like mark for suspended dry particles.
A line of small marks along a field boundary.
A letter H within a circle or a square touchdown area.
A capital H inside a circle, marking a helicopter landing area.
A capital H or L at the middle of a set of closed isobars.
A cross in a circle marking undipped strata.
Colour standing for height.
A buoy whose two cones say which side holds safe water.
Two cones base to base.
A blue and yellow striped mark with a cross.
A channel-side buoy whose colour depends on the region.
Two cones pointing up.
A can-shaped mark on the port side.
A lateral mark with a contrasting band.
Red to port on entering a channel.
Green to port on entering a channel.
Two cones pointing down.
A cone-shaped mark on the starboard side.
A shape fitted above a mark's body.
Two cones point to point.
Brazil's national map vocabulary.
Colombia's map and cadastral legend.
A long thin country's map legend.
French national mapping's distinct symbol and colour choices.
A figure in a full-body suit with a hood, marking immersion suit stowage.
A thickened contour line carrying its height figure.
Mexico's national map vocabulary.
A carried infant in a lifejacket.
A dashed fault line whose existence is deduced.
The treaty-adopted flag code every seagoing vessel carries.
One flange that fits every port.
A dotted qualifier for a faint feature.
A hatched qualifier for a covered feature.
A broken outline qualifying a feature.
A grid of eight columns describing each control.
A solid triangle standing for a rock.
Three solid triangles together.
An open outline in wooded ground.
A line with teeth on the lower side.
A hollow shape opening upward.
A small solid mound shape.
A square standing for a built feature.
Short horizontal strokes in rows.
Two lines meeting at a point.
A wave form standing for water.
The column qualifying the feature's state.
The column giving a feature's size in metres.
The column naming what the control is on.
The column saying where on the feature the flag hangs.
The column for refreshment, first aid or a crossing.
The column distinguishing one feature from its twins.
A mark placing the flag at the base.
A quadrant mark giving a compass side.
A line joining points of equal air pressure on a weather chart.
A dashed line joining points of equal magnetic variation.
A black and red buoy with two black balls.
Isotherm, isohyet, contour — lines joining equal values of anything.
A stationary front line across the archipelago.
A dated line sweeping up the archipelago.
A jointed stem with leaves at its head.
A manji, a swastika-form hooked cross, on the map.
A filled outline standing for a structure.
A small cross-topped upright on a base.
A small circle inside a larger one.
A line carrying inward-pointing teeth.
A thin line joining points of equal height.
A vertical stroke above a horizontal bar.
A closed toothed ring around a depression.
An anchor-derived device marking a customs post.
A line with teeth pointing into the excavation.
A thickened bar across a watercourse.
Two short upright strokes in a row.
A cogwheel in outline.
A stylised fire hook used by Edo firefighters.
Crossed fish device marking a fishery harbour.
A small open circle marking a public office.
A low arched outline over a base line.
The school character device enclosed in a circle.
An open lattice tower in elevation.
A three-pointed device marking a designated site.
A rounded shape enclosing a cross.
A flattened oval with three rising wisps of steam.
An irregular hatched area of solidified flow.
A double line following a riverbank.
A small square with a central point.
An open book seen from the side.
A dot with rays radiating in all directions.
Short horizontal strokes in broken rows.
A wind vane device inside a circle.
A pick and hammer crossed at the head.
An upright slab on a base.
A branching stroke marking mulberry cultivation.
A lighter dashed line with a single dot.
A classical building front with a pediment.
A route number set in a rounded shield.
A monument slab carrying a horizontal band.
A building outline enclosing a walking stick.
A fanned crown over a bare stem.
A crossed pair of truncheons inside a circle.
A truncheon device set inside a circle.
An anchor device marking a designated harbour.
The katakana テ in a circle.
A toothed wheel joined to a circuit line.
A heavy dashed line with paired dots.
A cross within a square outline.
Crossed picks marking stone extraction.
A mast with radiating strokes at its head.
A filled rectangle set on the track line.
A hatched patch drawn offshore.
Two short strokes representing rice seedlings.
The kanji 文 for writing or letters.
Two crossed strokes above a horizontal base.
A torii gate: two uprights under two horizontal beams.
An abacus bead frame reduced to two strokes.
Three dots arranged in a triangle.
Stipple crossed by broken water lines.
A circle enclosing a smaller filled disc.
A light track line drawn within a road.
A small triangle with a central point.
A route line broken between two portal ticks.
The lightest dashed administrative line.
A plain rectangle with a single interior bar.
A point mark where water is drawn off.
A short barred line across a stream.
A mast carrying three angled blades.
A line broken by regular pylon ticks.
A survey point mark carrying an antenna stroke.
A track line carried on paired supports.
A line with teeth pointing away from the crest.
A derrick outline over a wellhead point.
A circle with a small stalk, an apple in outline.
A broken track line beneath the surface.
A pair of narrow leaves rising from a point.
A rounded canopy above a short trunk.
A stepped outline of a castle's stone base.
A low spreading canopy without a trunk.
A pointed canopy above a short trunk.
A stippled patch marking permanent snow.
An evenly stippled area.
Short scattered upright ticks.
A T with a bar for post.
Nested circles around a typhoon centre.
The station and front notation of the Japanese chart.
An empty circle.
A circle with a bar through it.
A circle with a small filled centre.
A circle filled with a hatched band.
A circle filled with a cross-hatch.
A broad banded arrow showing a fast upper-level current.
A short line marking a fracture with no displacement.
A weed mark showing kelp on the seabed.
A toothed line following the ground.
A mounded semicircle on a base.
Stippling between two shorelines.
A plate naming a road and a side.
The national mapping symbol vocabulary.
A labelled area where helicopters set down.
An E-shaped pattern reading height to a hundredth.
A figure wearing a buoyancy collar, marking where life jackets are stowed.
An inflatable raft with a canopy, marking where a liferaft canister is stowed.
A boat on a slipway or in a house, marking a crewed rescue station ashore.
A ring with four bands, marking a throwable buoyancy ring and its line.
An abbreviation giving a light's rhythm, colour and period.
A dot with a flare of colour, marking a light and its characteristics.
A brick-like pattern marking a limestone unit.
A rocket trailing a line.
An arrow marking a linear fabric and its plunge.
Yellow lettering on black, naming where you are.
Shaded discs showing how much of the moon is lit.
Three arrows showing grid, true and magnetic north.
A shape like a squared letter M inside a unit frame.
White lettering on red, marking a boundary not to be crossed.
A teardrop shape with a circular hole, marking a location on a digital map.
An outlined area of aquaculture structures.
Defined words from good to fog for how far can be seen.
Short horizontal tufts marking waterlogged ground.
Crossed lines with an oval inside a unit frame.
An upright cross inside a unit frame.
A coded aviation weather report in fixed abbreviated fields.
A grid reference you can say out loud.
Crossed pistols or the letters MP inside a unit frame.
A crossed circle marking a vertical shaft.
Painted or fixed points recording position underground.
A row of filled dots marking laid mines.
A marked point where a mineral has been found.
A number from one to ten ranking scratch resistance.
A fold trace marking a single step in level strata.
A buoy shape marking a fixed mooring.
A ridged line marking glacially deposited debris.
Dots and dashes — and a timing relationship that the printed form hides.
A single wheel beneath a unit icon.
A small house on a contour map.
A small peak shape attached to a unit icon.
An abbreviation marking mud on the seabed.
Dashes without lamination marking a mudstone unit.
A group of figures under an arrow, marking where to gather before evacuating a ship.
A ruled line of a rectangular coordinate system.
A stylised acorn marking a designated National Trail in England and Wales.
An acorn on a post.
A rounded oval inside a unit frame, marking armoured forces.
Dots, vertical bars and X marks above a unit frame, showing its size.
A rectangle marking a friendly force on a military map.
A diamond marking a hostile force on a military map.
Two crossed diagonal lines inside a unit frame, marking infantry.
A square marking a neutral force on a military map.
A quatrefoil marking a force of undetermined affiliation.
A swimming figure in a red circle with a diagonal bar.
An enclosed area within which fires are prohibited.
A wreck mark without an enclosing danger line.
A simple arrow with an N, stating which way is north on a map.
A coded notice of a temporary hazard or change.
A tapering flag carrying a digit.
An enclosed area labelled with an objective name.
A circle with a cross above it marking an observation point.
A tower shape with heights above ground and above sea level.
A line carrying both triangles and semicircles, where a cold front has caught a warm one.
A perpendicular distance from a survey line.
A hachured outline marking a surface working.
Regularly spaced tree dots marking cultivated planting.
A horizontal bar above a broad arrow, cut into stone as a height reference.
A coloured dashed line on a British map, marking a class of right of way.
A thin circle marking a control point's centre.
A paired mark showing where to cross.
Two concentric circles marking the finish.
Graded green shading showing how slow the vegetation is.
A triangle marking the course start.
Red and yellow diagonal: man overboard.
Hatched or cross-hatched area a competitor may not enter.
A wavy mark showing steep breaking water.
An anticline trace with both arrows pointing one way.
A dip symbol with a hooked tick, marking inverted strata.
Four lights showing whether an approach is high or low.
A figure giving the measured area of a parcel.
A map fill marking grazing land.
A struck device registered on a guild touchplate.
A labelled line coordinating movement across a map.
A shell pointing the way.
A marked circle where a pilot joins a vessel.
A colour that means something local.
Three dots above a unit frame, marking a platoon.
A location as a short string.
A painted or impressed device on the underside of a piece.
Dots for rain, stars for snow, triangles for hail — and doubling means heavier.
A tiny line drawing of how pressure has moved over three hours.
A crossbar on posts carrying a line and a level.
A struck-through anchor marking a ban.
A height measuring how far a summit rises above its saddle.
A long-dashed line marking a right of way for horses.
Two altimeter settings measuring from different datums.
Names and codes identifying a topographic sheet and its neighbours.
A hatched or textured area marking extraction.
Plain yellow: my vessel is healthy and I request free pratique.
A marked circle for a radar transponder beacon.
A colour ramp showing how strongly rain reflects radar.
A mark showing an aid fitted to return radar energy.
Filled dots whose number and grouping give rain's intensity and continuity.
Blue through red: how hard it is raining, not what kind of weather it is.
Isobars, fronts, pressure centres and station circles, in one picture.
A line marking a route advised for shipping.
A single diagonal line inside a unit frame.
A flag divided red over yellow, marking the lifeguarded bathing area.
A plain red flag flown at a beach, meaning the water is closed to bathing.
A height calculated against a stated datum.
A labelled point where vehicles take on fuel.
Three vertical bars above a unit frame, marking a regiment.
A labelled point where a march formally ends.
Light from the north-west.
The control that floods a space.
A small boat for recovering people.
An outlined area where navigation is limited.
An enclosed area where fires need prior coordination.
A fault line marking an upthrown hanging wall.
Lines radiating across a sea chart.
A zigzag or marked line along an axis of high pressure.
A graduated board or post showing water level.
A cross-shaped mark for rock at chart datum.
Repeating patterns standing for rock type in a section.
An abbreviation marking rock on the seabed.
A dashed line down the runway centre.
Two large white numerals at a runway threshold, giving its magnetic bearing.
A block of parallel white stripes across a runway, marking where landing may begin.
A red and white striped buoy with a single red ball.
An even scatter of dots marking a sandstone unit.
An abbreviation marking sand on the seabed.
A ruled bar in alternating blocks, showing ground distance on a map.
A printed ratio saying how much the map reduces the ground.
Wavy parallel lines marking a foliated metamorphic rock.
Smooth, slight, rough, phenomenal — wave height in words.
Small letters saying what the bottom is made of.
A device that paints a radar screen.
Two dots above a unit frame, marking a section.
A figure passing through an archway, marking the security search point.
A driven peg marking a designed position on the ground.
Fine horizontal lines marking a shale unit.
Notches and holes cut in a pattern into an animal's ears.
Time struck in pairs.
Imminent, soon, later — and visibility words with exact ranges.
A solid triangle beneath a precipitation mark.
Paired rails and a T-shaped staff controlling a gradient.
Five stripes: blue, white, red, white, blue.
Blue over red, halved.
A red diamond on white.
Six vertical stripes, yellow and blue.
White at the hoist, red at the fly.
A black circle on yellow.
Blue, white, blue in horizontal bands.
Yellow at the hoist, blue at the fly.
Yellow and black quarters.
A white diagonal cross on blue.
A blue and white chequerboard.
A white rectangle on blue.
A yellow cross on red.
A blue rectangle on white.
Red, white and blue vertical stripes.
Red and white quarters.
A blue cross on white.
Diagonal yellow and red stripes.
Four triangles: black, yellow, blue, red.
A report that means one thing.
A shutter over a light.
A marked point displaying visual signals to shipping.
A diagonal line with a loop, inside a unit frame.
A small hachured depression in soluble rock.
A circle shaded in eighths to show how much sky is cloudy.
Six-pointed asterisks whose number gives the snowfall's intensity.
Capital letters naming layers down a soil profile.
An arrowhead shape inside a unit frame.
A yellow buoy with a yellow cross topmark.
An outlined area where dredged material is dumped.
An outline with outward hachures marking waste ground.
A dot with a number giving an exact elevation.
A small circle with a tail, marking emerging groundwater.
A single dot above a unit frame, marking a squad.
A four-digit octal code identifying an aircraft to radar.
Dots of graded size standing for brightness.
A labelled point where a march formally begins.
A circle surrounded by numbers, each position meaning a fixed thing.
Triangles on one side, semicircles on the other, pointing opposite ways.
A black cone hoisted point up or point down at a harbour.
A flat horizontal layer, the lowest and dullest cloud.
A long line with a short tick and a number, giving a bed's attitude.
A fault line with paired arrows showing lateral movement.
A closed trace with arrows pointing inward all round.
A closed trace with arrows pointing outward all round.
A wavy line marking a cable on the seabed.
A marked line for a pipeline on the seabed.
Triangular pennants that repeat a flag already flying.
A shape like a squared letter S inside a unit frame.
A brass disc set in stone.
A shaded relief rendering of rock faces on Alpine maps.
Five-figure groups encoding a whole observation for transmission.
Raised lines, textures and braille on a map to be read by hand.
A continuous yellow line along a taxiway, marking the path to follow.
A local reference height set for one job.
A skewed thermodynamic diagram that tells a forecaster whether air will rise.
A position as three words.
A bag on a line, marking a throwable rescue line.
A capital R with a hooked tail and an arrowhead.
A wavy mark showing disturbed water.
Times and heights of high and low water at a named port.
Mixed angular and rounded clasts with no sorting.
A gate of two uprights and two crossbars, marking the entrance to a shrine.
Paired bars beside the runway centreline counting distance.
Broad arrows and a bounded zone dividing shipping lanes.
A painted rectangle on a tree or rock, marking a route and its turns.
A wheel shape inside a unit frame.
A numbered ground mark in a survey traverse.
A small square marking an exploratory excavation.
A small triangle with a central dot, marking a surveyed height and position.
Numbered intensity scales that differ between ocean basins.
A circle with two curved tails, spiralling the way the storm does.
A bold line with no triangles: a pressure feature without a front.
A wavy line marking missing time in a rock sequence.
A marked point for rock below chart datum.
A post above a buried line.
Metres east and north of a false origin.
A strike line with ticks both sides, marking upright strata.
White with a red saltire: I require assistance.
A radiating fan of lines on a map, marking a view and the direction of it.
A small marked circle where lava reached the surface.
A hexagon with a compass rose marking a radio navigation aid.
A letter grading the wake an aircraft leaves behind it.
A line with solid semicircles along one side, marking advancing warm air.
A lance that makes fog.
A coloured arrow on a post, marking a right of way and its status.
Yellow, amber, red — likelihood crossed with impact, not severity alone.
A graded colour scale from yellow to red for expected impact.
Blue, white and red rectangles nested: I require medical assistance.
An arrow showing wind direction on a public forecast map.
A shaft with feathers, giving wind direction and speed in one mark.
A fabric cone open at both ends.
A line with regular cross ticks marking barbed wire.
A hull or crossed-mast mark showing a sunken vessel.
A small triangle or hut outline marking a hostel on a walking map.
A colour that is a legal permission.