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The tell-tales and indicators a driver reads on an instrument cluster, from the check-engine light to the symbols for systems most drivers never think about.
Here when the symbol reports the state of the vehicle. A sign the vehicle is being driven towards is a road sign; the two are close enough that several records point at each other.
Officially standardised, mostly through ISO 2575 — which is why the same tell-tale is recognisable across manufacturers who share nothing else.
An amber or red dashboard icon shaped like an engine block, indicating a detected vehicle malfunction.
A red oil-can-shaped dashboard icon warning of critically low engine oil pressure or level.
A red battery-shaped dashboard icon warning that the vehicle's charging system, not necessarily the battery itself, has a fault.
A thermometer-in-liquid dashboard icon, red for overheating and (on some vehicles) blue for an engine that is still too cold.
A red circle-and-exclamation-mark dashboard icon, often flanked by curved brackets, warning of a parking-brake or hydraulic brake-system fault.
An amber dashboard icon reading 'ABS' inside an oval, warning of a fault in the anti-lock braking system.
A dashboard icon of a seated figure with an airbag outline in front of them, warning of a fault in the airbag/supplemental restraint system.
A red or amber dashboard icon of a seated figure wearing a diagonal belt line, reminding an occupant to fasten their seatbelt.
An amber dashboard icon shaped like a tyre's cross-section with an exclamation mark, warning of significantly low tyre pressure.
An amber fuel-pump-nozzle dashboard icon, sometimes with a small arrow, warning that fuel level is low.
An amber dashboard icon of a car with skid lines beneath it, warning of a fault in the vehicle's electronic stability or traction control system.
An amber dashboard icon of a windscreen with spray dots, warning that windscreen washer fluid is low.
A steering-wheel dashboard icon, sometimes marked 'EPS' or with an exclamation mark, warning of reduced or lost power-steering assistance.
Red, amber, green — the part of a dashboard that generalises across every car.
An amber coiled spring: a diesel is preheating, wait before starting.
An amber box with dots inside: the soot filter is clogging.
An amber droplet or tank: the exhaust fluid is low.
An oil can with a wavy line under it: the level is low, not the pressure.
A blue headlamp with straight horizontal rays: high beam is on.
A green headlamp with rays angled downward: normal headlights.
A green lamp with a wavy line cutting across its straight rays.
An amber lamp with rays angled the other way, crossed by a wave.
A green pair of lamps facing outward: position lights only.
A red triangle outline: both indicators at once.
A car with skid marks, with OFF beneath: the electronic safety net is disabled.
A circle with a P inside, in brackets: the handbrake is on.
A car seen from above with its doors swung out.
A curved rectangle with three wavy arrows rising through it.
A straight-sided rectangle with three wavy arrows: the heated rear window.
A car in profile with an arrow curling round inside it.
A speedometer outline with an arrow, or the word SET.
A car between two lane lines, one of them broken or highlighted.
A spanner: a scheduled service is due, not a fault.
A car with a key or padlock inside it: the vehicle does not recognise the key.
A letter A inside a circular arrow.
A flashing green arrow — and a fast flash means a bulb has failed.
A plug, a battery or a car with a cable: the state of charging.
A miniature aircraft against a split brown and blue disc.
A miniature aircraft with a ball in a curved tube below.
A dial reading feet per minute up or down from a centre zero.
Coloured arcs around an airspeed dial.
A horizontal needle showing position above or below the approach path.
A car outline above two wavy skid lines.
A battery or arrow display showing energy recovered.
An amber lamp outline with radiating lines and a fault mark.