Youth hostel map symbol

A small triangle or hut outline marking a hostel on a walking map.

Also known as: Hostel symbol, Hut symbol map

Maps & navigationStandard profile

Meanings

A small marker on a walking map showing a hostel. It is a good example of a symbol that is authoritative on one country's maps and meaningless on another's, because national mapping agencies each design their own legend.

Officially standardisedVerified fact
Marks a youth hostel on Ordnance Survey leisure mapping.
United Kingdom · Contexts: Navigation, Maps
Common modern usageVerified fact
Is defined by the national mapping agency that publishes the map and by nobody else, so the same drawing carries no meaning on another country's mapping.
Contexts: Navigation, Maps

Visual description

A small simplified building outline with a steeply pitched roof, drawn as a triangle over a short rectangle.

Symmetry: vertical
Orientation: upright

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is defined by a current official standard, but multiple independent sources agree.
Historical originModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but multiple independent sources agree, 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, but multiple independent sources agree.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but multiple independent sources agree.

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.
Cartographic symbol
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.
Hostel
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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Map, chart and weather symbols

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Meanings

Officially standardisedVerified fact

Marks a youth hostel on Ordnance Survey leisure mapping.

United Kingdom · Contexts: Navigation, Maps

Common modern usageVerified fact

Is defined by the national mapping agency that publishes the map and by nobody else, so the same drawing carries no meaning on another country's mapping.

Contexts: Navigation, Maps

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is defined by a current official standard, but multiple independent sources agree.
Historical originModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but multiple independent sources agree, 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, but multiple independent sources agree.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but multiple independent sources agree.

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.
Cartographic symbol
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.
Hostel
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