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Map and chart conventions, from topographic series to nautical charts.
Map symbology is defined per series rather than universally: an Ordnance Survey symbol means what the OS legend says it means, and a nautical chart follows a different published convention entirely. Always read a map's own legend before applying a symbol learned elsewhere.
These records say so themselves — the setting appears in the symbol's own reviewed description or in one of its documented meanings.
Showing the 48 most firmly placed of 161. Browse by domain to see every symbol in the catalogue.
A mark for an automatic identification transmitter.
Its summary places it there: “On a nautical chart an AIS mark shows that an aid to navigation transmits…”
A shank with a crossbar and two curved arms, marking anchorages and maritime things generally.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “Marks an anchorage on a nautical chart: a place where a vessel may anchor, with the…”
An anchor mark within an outlined area.
Its summary places it there: “On a nautical chart an anchorage area is drawn as an outlined area…”
A triangle representing a tent, marking a camping site on a map.
Its description places it there: “…representing a tent, marking a camping site on a map”
The stated level all depths are measured from.
Its summary places it there: “On a nautical chart the chart datum is the level below which depths…”
A branching incised channel figure.
Its summary places it there: “…incised gullies of the Chinese loess plateau on a topographic map”
A tiered tower in profile.
Its summary places it there: “Denotes a pagoda on a Chinese topographic map, a landmark class with its own symbol”
Clustered closed depressions.
Its summary places it there: “…depressions and limestone towers — on a Chinese topographic map”
Stacked contour-following hatches.
Its summary places it there: “Denotes terraced agricultural fields on a Chinese topographic map”
A crenellated line with towers.
Its summary places it there: “Denotes the Great Wall on a Chinese topographic map, a feature with a symbol of its own”
The national mapping symbol vocabulary.
Its summary places it there: “…symbol vocabulary specified for Chinese national topographic map series”
A marked point for a coastguard watch station.
Its summary places it there: “On a nautical chart a coastguard station is drawn as a marked point…”
A star-like figure of radiating points marking the cardinal directions on a map or chart.
Its description places it there: “…radiating points marking the cardinal directions on a map or chart”
The stated height difference between adjacent contour lines.
Its summary places it there: “…between one contour and the next, printed in the map legend. It is the number that turns a pattern of lines…”
An abbreviation marking coral on the seabed.
Its summary places it there: “On a nautical chart coral is recorded by its own abbreviation, describing…”
A marked point where a vessel clears customs.
Its summary places it there: “On a nautical chart a customs office is drawn as a marked point…”
A hull outline with a dotted danger line around it.
Its summary places it there: “On a nautical chart a wreck considered dangerous to surface navigation…”
A contour with inward ticks, marking ground that falls.
Its summary places it there: “…tick is one of the highest-value marks on a topographic sheet”
A line joining points of equal depth.
Its summary places it there: “On a nautical chart a depth contour joins points of equal depth below…”
A fine line marking a cut watercourse.
Its summary places it there: “On a topographic map a drainage ditch is shown as a fine line…”
A plain arrow showing the outgoing stream.
Its summary places it there: “On a nautical chart the ebb tidal stream is drawn as a plain unfeathered…”
A spiral mark showing circulating water.
Its summary places it there: “On a nautical chart eddies are drawn as small spiral marks, showing…”
A feathered arrow showing the incoming stream.
Its summary places it there: “On a nautical chart the flood tidal stream is drawn as a feathered…”
A number identifying a management unit of woodland.
Its summary places it there: “…defined unit of woodland for management, recorded on a map and marked on the ground at its boundaries”
A marked area where the bottom is obstructed.
Its summary places it there: “On a nautical chart foul ground is drawn as an outlined area marking…”
A car on an inclined line, sometimes with a counterweight.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “Denotes a funicular railway on maps and public transport signage: a cable-hauled…”
Letters printed on a map naming the rock's age.
Its description places it there: “Letters printed on a map naming the rock's age”
The lines of latitude and longitude.
Its summary places it there: “…network of meridians and parallels drawn or ticked on a map”
A contour of gravitational variation.
Its visual description places it there: “A closed or open contour line on a map, labelled with a value and drawn like a topographic…”
A marked point for the port authority office.
Its summary places it there: “On a nautical chart the harbour master's office is drawn as a marked…”
A line of small marks along a field boundary.
Its summary places it there: “On a topographic map a hedgerow is shown as a line of small marks…”
Brazil's national map vocabulary.
Its summary places it there: “…conventional signs used on the Brazilian national topographic map series”
Colombia's map and cadastral legend.
Its summary places it there: “…conventional signs used on the Colombian national topographic and cadastral map series”
A long thin country's map legend.
Its description places it there: “A long thin country's map legend”
Mexico's national map vocabulary.
Its summary places it there: “…conventional signs used on the Mexican national topographic map series”
A line with teeth on the lower side.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…teeth downslope, the same convention Japanese topographic maps use for the same feature, arrived at by…”
Short horizontal strokes in rows.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…symbol is legible to anyone who has read any topographic map”
A jointed stem with leaves at its head.
Its summary places it there: “Denotes a bamboo grove on a Japanese topographic map”
A manji, a swastika-form hooked cross, on the map.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “Denotes a Buddhist temple on a Japanese topographic map, drawn as a manji”
A filled outline standing for a structure.
Its summary places it there: “Denotes a building on a Japanese topographic map, drawn to its true plan where scale allows”
A small cross-topped upright on a base.
Its summary places it there: “Denotes a burial ground on a Japanese topographic map”
A small circle inside a larger one.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “Denotes a municipal office on a Japanese topographic map, the ring arrangement indicating the administrative…”
A line carrying inward-pointing teeth.
Its summary places it there: “Denotes a cliff or steep rock face on a Japanese topographic map, the teeth pointing downslope”
A thin line joining points of equal height.
Its summary places it there: “Denotes a line of constant elevation on a Japanese topographic map, drawn at ten metre intervals on the 1:25,000…”
A vertical stroke above a horizontal bar.
Its summary places it there: “Denotes a courthouse on a Japanese topographic map, drawn from the notice board on which judgments…”
A closed toothed ring around a depression.
Its summary places it there: “…a volcanic crater or fumarole on a Japanese topographic map”
An anchor-derived device marking a customs post.
Its summary places it there: “Denotes a customs house on a Japanese topographic map, placed at ports and international airports”
A line with teeth pointing into the excavation.
Its summary places it there: “…away below the surrounding level on a Japanese topographic map”
These carry an editorial context assigned during review that places them here.
A fixed point all measurements refer to.
A marked point locating an object.
Short strokes showing a cut edge.
A bounded area of excavation.
A Greek letter with a constellation's genitive name.
Letters after a year saying which era it counts from.
Three letters standing for one of eighty-eight constellations.
A number identifying one deposit, cut or structure.
Cuts in an animal's ear encoding an owner or a number.
A number on a logarithmic scale, subscripted by method.
Codes naming an eclipse's type, date and magnitude.
A number for how cold it gets.
A diagram of stratigraphic relationships in an excavation.
A boxed context number in a diagram.
A line stating which context is earlier.
Year, month and day in fixed order, largest unit first.
A year, a W and a week number.
A continuous count of days used in astronomy.
A design burned or frozen into hide, read by a fixed grammar.
A numbered tag identifying an individual animal.
An M and a number naming a deep-sky object.
A colour standing for a line.
A picture for every station.
A date recording when work stopped.
A line where a seam meets the surface.
A hatched area of extracted ground.
A vessel drawn half in section and half in elevation.
A date with an error, a laboratory code and a calibration marker.
A celestial coordinate measured in hours rather than degrees.
Hachures, levels and a datum line recording a vertical face.
A shaded wave against two-way time.
A clock keyed to the stars rather than to the sun.
A letter marking a mineral topsoil.
A letter marking a subsoil of accumulation.
A letter marking little-altered parent material.
A letter marking an organic layer.
A triangle plotting three particle fractions.
A number that runs backwards, smaller meaning brighter.
A Z or a signed offset fixing a time to a zone.
Bus rapid transit signed like a metro.
Letters assigned in an order almost nobody can guess.
A number from zero to eight rating an eruption's size.
Two curves swapping order to flag a zone.
A vertical strip carrying one measurement.
These belong to a system or a curated family that lives here. A laundry care symbol is met on a clothing label whether or not its own wording happens to say so.
Showing the 48 most firmly placed of 405. Browse by domain to see every symbol in the catalogue.
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.
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.
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.
If you can describe what you saw as well as where, say both: “winged skull on a gravestone” narrows a list of 610 to a handful.