Waymark arrow

A coloured arrow on a post, marking a right of way and its status.

Also known as: Public footpath arrow, Coloured arrow on a post

Maps & navigationRoad & transportStandard profile

Meanings

A coloured arrow on a post marks a public path, and in England and Wales the colour states the legal right: yellow for footpath, blue for bridleway. It is one of the few colour codes that carries a legal meaning rather than a stylistic one.

Officially standardisedVerified fact
Marks the line of a public right of way, with the colour stating which class of right applies: yellow for a footpath, blue for a bridleway, plum for a restricted byway and red for a byway open to all traffic.
England and Wales · Contexts: Navigation
Common modern usageVerified fact
Carries that colour coding only in England and Wales. Other countries mark trails with their own conventions, and the same colour means nothing in particular elsewhere.
Contexts: Navigation
Common modern usageVerified fact
Is supplemented on named routes by a distinct emblem — an acorn, a shell — that identifies the trail rather than the right.
Contexts: Navigation

Visual description

A solid arrow of a single colour on a small square or roundel, fixed to a post and turned to point along the line of the path.

Symmetry: none
Orientation: orientation independent
Colours: yellow, blue, red, purple

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is defined by a current official standard.
Historical originModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useHigh confidence: High confidence because the current use is defined by a current official standard.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references.

Sources

Ordnance Survey map symbols and legends
Ordnance Survey · retrieved 2026-08-01
The national mapping agency's own published legend. Authoritative for British Ordnance Survey mapping and for nothing else — the same drawing may carry a different meaning on another country's maps, and every record citing this states its jurisdiction.
Trail blazing
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for what a symbol depicts and which authority publishes it, not for the legend of any particular chart series or the text of any standard.

Last reviewed 2026-08-01

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Meanings

Officially standardisedVerified fact

Marks the line of a public right of way, with the colour stating which class of right applies: yellow for a footpath, blue for a bridleway, plum for a restricted byway and red for a byway open to all traffic.

England and Wales · Contexts: Navigation

Common modern usageVerified fact

Carries that colour coding only in England and Wales. Other countries mark trails with their own conventions, and the same colour means nothing in particular elsewhere.

Contexts: Navigation

Common modern usageVerified fact

Is supplemented on named routes by a distinct emblem — an acorn, a shell — that identifies the trail rather than the right.

Contexts: Navigation

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is defined by a current official standard.
Historical originModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useHigh confidence: High confidence because the current use is defined by a current official standard.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references.

Sources

Ordnance Survey map symbols and legends
Ordnance Survey · retrieved 2026-08-01
The national mapping agency's own published legend. Authoritative for British Ordnance Survey mapping and for nothing else — the same drawing may carry a different meaning on another country's maps, and every record citing this states its jurisdiction.
Trail blazing
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for what a symbol depicts and which authority publishes it, not for the legend of any particular chart series or the text of any standard.

Last reviewed 2026-08-01