List of public signage typefaces

Updated: 5/20/2026, 7:32:32 PM Wikipedia source

Typefaces used for signage in public areas, such as roads and airports, often share characteristics of, or are chosen for, their readability.

Tables

· Typefaces

Achemine

Used by

SNCF, France

Notes

Created in 2008 to improve station accessibility

Alfabeto Normale and Alfabeto Stretto

Used by

Road signs in Italy, San Marino and Vatican City Road signs in Albania

Notes

Alfabeto Normale is a bolder variant of the British Transport typeface. Alfabeto Stretto is a condensed version of Alfabeto Normale. Both fonts have their own positive (for dark-coloured text on light backgrounds) and negative (for light-coloured text on dark backgrounds) versions.

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Antique Olive

Used by

California Department of Transportation

Notes

Some regulatory signs

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Arial

Used by

China Railway (English signage) Most Chinese urban rail systems (English signage) Taiwan Railway (English signage) Bengaluru Metro PIDS English signage: Chiba Urban Monorail, Hankai Tramway, Sanyō Electric Railway Road signs in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Laos, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Myanmar, Slovenia, Somalia, Taiwan

Notes

Venezuelan road signs mostly use Arial Black, a variant or Arial, for legibility.

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Austria

Used by

Austria

Notes

Being phased out since 2013

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Avant Garde

Used by

KAI Commuter rail network in Indonesia (before 2021)

Notes

Now gradually replaced with Circular in 2021, with remaining old signages still in place.

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Avenir

Used by

Macau Light Rapid Transit Dublin Airport Minneapolis–Saint Paul Metro Transit

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AXIS Font

Used by

Japanese and English signage: Hisatsu Orange Railway Japanese signage: Seibu Railway

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Bembo

Used by

Smithsonian signage in Washington D .

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Bodoni

Used by

English signage: Yokohama Minatomirai Railway (Minatomirai Line) Bashamichi Station

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Boutros Advertisers Naskh

Used by

Road signs in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the United Arab Emirates Beirut International Airport

Notes

Formerly used in Dubai International Airport and Riyadh International Airport

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Brusseline

Used by

Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company

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Calibri

Used by

English signage: Tōyō Rapid Railway

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Calvert

Used by

Tyne & Wear Metro, United Kingdom.

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Caractères

Used by

France

Notes

Used for road signs in France and in some countries in Africa. In France it is used in four variants known as L1, L2, L4, L5. Its usage is mandated by the Interministerial Instruction on Road Signs and Signals (Instruction interministérielle sur la signalisation routière)

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Carretera convencional

Used by

Directorate-General for Traffic Road signs in Spain

Notes

Proprietary typeface commissioned for this purpose, used on intracity road signs. Derived from the Transport typeface.

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Casey

Used by

Singapore MRT (since 2019) Changi Airport (since 2022)

Notes

Used by Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation until its merger with MTR in 2007. Being gradually replaced by Myriad, which is used by MTR on its networks.

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Cast

Used by

Most Taiwanese urban rail systems (since 2022)

Notes

Century Gothic

Used by

English signage: Kōbe New Transit, Nagaragawa Railway

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Cezanne (セザンヌ)

Used by

Japanese signage: Iyo Railway (Iyotetsu)

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Circular

Used by

Transport for West Midlands (since 2018) Kereta Api Indonesia (since 2020)

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Clarendon

Used by

U . National Park Service road signs

Notes

Used by Public Transport Company in Poznań as the typeface for its fleet vehicles numbering

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Clearview

Used by

Destination signs of Quebec autoroutes (shields are in Highway Gothic) Road signs in Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Israel, Panama, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and the United States

Notes

Developed to replace U . FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) typefaces

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Dansk Vejtavleskrift

Used by

Road signs in Denmark

Notes

Derived from the Transport typeface

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Deutsche Bahn WLS

Used by

Deutsche Bahn station signage

Notes

Developed in close reference to Helvetica

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DF Heisei Gothic (DF平成ゴシック)

Used by

Japanese signage: Chikuhō Electric Railroad (Chikutetsu)

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DF Kaisho (DF楷書)

Used by

Japanese signage: Tsugaru Railway

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DF Maru Gothic (DF丸ゴシック)

Used by

Japanese and English signage: Aizu Railway, Noto Railway English signage: Gakunan Electric Train, Izuhakone Railway

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DF Reisho (DF隷書)

Used by

Japanese and English signage: Fuji Kyūkō (Fujikjyū), Odakyū Hakone (Hakone Tozan Railway) Japanese signage: Heisei Chikuhō Railway (Mojikō Retro Scenic Line)

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DIN 1451

Used by

Road signs in Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo Counties Road signs in Germany Road signs in the Czech Republic Road signs in Latvia Road signs in the Southern African Development Community Road signs in Brunei Road signs in Singapore Road signs in Syria Bengaluru Metro (Namma Metro) signage Kansai International Airport (KIX) (since 2022) Min

Notes

The DIN typeface was used for regulatory and warning Signs in Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties. Also used in the Greek motorway network The DIN typeface for the Namma Metro is in English and Kannada. The DIN typeface is currently in the process of gradually replacing the Frutiger typeface for Kansai Airport during its renovations in pre

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Drogowskaz

Used by

Polish road signage typeface

Notes

One of a few digitalisations; officially the typeface used in Polish road signs has no defined name.

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Esseltub

Used by

Previously used in Stockholm Metro

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FIP signage typeface

Used by

Government of Canada

Notes

A modified version of Helvetica Medium used by the Government of Canada

FF Fago

Used by

ADIF

Notes

Used as official font for signage system of all Spanish railway stations owned by the state-owned administrator, ADIF

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FF Meta

Used by

Stockholm Metro Caltrans Birmingham Airport TransLink (British Columbia)

Notes

Some mile marker signs

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FF Transit

Used by

Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg Düsseldorf Airport Société de transport de Montréal

Notes

Developed by MetaDesign for Berlin's public transport company BVG and later adopted by other transport systems. Contains many pictograms for signage. Based on Frutiger.

FF Scala Sans

Used by

Los Angeles Metro

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FHWA Series typeface (Highway Gothic)

Used by

Road signs in the Americas, Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, and Turkey

Notes

Developed for U . road signage Formerly used on Spanish motorways Turkey uses two typefaces on road signs based on this typeface – O-Serisi for motorways and E-Serisi for all other roads.

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Folk (フォーク)

Used by

Japanese and English signage: Ainokaze Toyama Railway

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Freight Sans

Used by

Kempegowda International Airport

Frutiger

Used by

Charles de Gaulle Airport Istanbul Metro(Except M11) Road signs in Switzerland Amtrak Across the public transport network of Oslo, Norway Dulles International Airport (IAD) BAA Airports in the UK, National Health Service in England Frankfurt Airport Buenos Aires Subte JR East (numbers) English signage of many Japanese railway operators

Notes

The Frutiger typeface was commissioned for use at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in 1975. It has also been used for regulatory and warning signs in Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Solano, Sonoma, and Yolo Counties.

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Futura

Used by

Italian railways Street signs in Stockholm

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Giaothong1 and Giaothong2

Used by

Vietnam

Notes

Modification of DIN 1451 typeface with Vietnamese extension

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Gill Sans

Used by

British Railways (until 1965) Transperth English signage: Maihama Resort Line (Disney Resort Line)

Notes

Also the official font for all the signage system of the Spanish Government. Modified variant of Gill Sans Bold Condensed used on road signs in former East Germany until 1990.

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Gona (ゴナ)

Used by

Japanese and English signage: Mōka Railway, Yagan Railway Japanese signage: Chizu Express, IR Ishikawa Railway, Kantō Railway (Kantetsu), Kashima Rinkai Railway, Manyōsen English signage: Kōnan Railway

Notes

A Gothic typeface released by Shaken in 1975, it was once extremely popular as the typeface for railway signage in Japan. However, until October 2024, it was only available for phototypesetting and not as a digital font for desktop publishing, which made it difficult to use. In contrast, a similar typeface called Shin Go, released by rival company

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Gothic 4550 (ゴシック4550)

Used by

Japanese and English signage: IGR Iwate Galaxy Railway Japanese signage: Kyoto Municipal Subway, Nankai Electric Railway, Wakayama Electric Railway

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Gothic MB101 (ゴシックMB101)

Used by

Japanese signage: Mizuma Railway

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Goudy Old Style

Used by

Used on Victoria PTC railway station signs in the 1990s, replacing the green The Met signs.

Notes

The blue Metlink signs replaced these signs in 2003 after a short trial of Connex signs (using Verdana) at Mitcham and Rosanna stations.

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Hangil

Used by

Road signs in South Korea

Notes

A Hangul typeface designed by Sandoll Communications in 2008, being used on traffic signs throughout the entire South Korea except for some part of Seoul, along with Panno.

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Heisei Kaku Gothic (平成角ゴシック)

Used by

Japanese and English signage: Nishikigawa Railway, Okayama Electric Tramway, Yuri Kōgen Railway Japanese signage: Chiba Urban Monorail, Gakunan Electric Train English signage: Amagi Railway

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Helvetica

Used by

New York City Subway system Road signs in Åland Road signs in Cambodia Road signs in China Road signs in Israel Chicago Transit Authority system Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority system Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority system Baltimore Metro SubwayLink Toronto subway (destination signs) Madrid Metro English signage

Notes

Formerly used the Hong Kong MTR, Stockholm Metro, ÖBB, Deutsche Bundesbahn portions of the LACMTA system and the Melbourne MTA, and some Toronto subway station signage. Less commonly, the typeface is used on street signs in the United States, including in some suburbs of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area, parts of Pennsylvania, and by the

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Helvetica Neue

Used by

Metlink/Public Transport Victoria Swiss Federal Railways Street signs in Pinole Road signs in Catalonia

Notes

Being phased out on the Victoria public transport system in favor of Network Sans from 2021 SBB uses its own version of Neue Helvetica named SBB and named "Helvetica Semi-Bold Corrected" by its designer Josef Müller-Brockmann in the SBB Design Manual.

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HG Maru Gothic (HG丸ゴシック)

Used by

Japanese and English signage: Kurobe Gorge Railway, Nose Electric Railway (Noseden), Tenryū Hamanako Railroad English signage: Heisei Chikuhō Railway (Mojikō Retro Scenic Line)

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HGS Gothic (HGSゴシック)

Used by

Japanese and English signage: Ise Railway, Sapporo Municipal Subway

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Hiragino

Used by

NEXCO East Japan NEXCO Central Japan NEXCO West Japan

Notes

Japan Highway Public Corporation (divided into three NEXCO group companies in 2005) used its own JH Standard Text until 2010. Since 2010, Hiragino is used for Japanese text, Frutiger for numbers, and Vialog for English text.

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Hiragino Kaku Go (ヒラギノ角ゴ)

Used by

Japanese and English signage: Heisei Chikuhō Railway (Ita, Itoda, and Tagawa Lines) Japanese signage: Hankai Tramway, Kōbe Municipal Subway (Kaigan and Seishin-Yamate Lines), Sagami Railway (Sōtetsu)

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Hiragino UD Kaku Go (ヒラギノUD角ゴ)

Used by

Japanese and English signage: Sendai Subway Japanese signage: Osaka Metro (All lines except for the Nankō Port Town Line), Sendai Airport Transit

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Iwata Shin Gothic (イワタ新ゴシック)

Used by

Japanese signage: Toei Nippori-Toneri Liner

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Iwata UD Gothic (イワタUDゴシック)

Used by

Japanese and English signage: Enshū Railway (Entetsu) Japanese signage: Keisei Electric Railway, Kintetsu Railway, Kōbe Municipal Subway (Hokushin Line), Shizuoka Railway, Yurikamome

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Iwata UD Maru Gothic (イワタUD丸ゴシック)

Used by

Japanese signage: Hankyū Railway, Tōyō Rapid Railway

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JNR-L

Used by

Japanese and English signage: JR Central (Shinkansen) English signage: JR Central (non-Shinkansen), JR-Central Transport Service (TKJ)

Notes

A typeface developed and used by the former Japanese National Railways (JNR), based on Sumi Maru Gothic. Today, it is used exclusively by the JR Central Group.

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Johnston

Used by

Transport for London

Notes

Some Citybus and New World First Bus route displays in Hong Kong

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JTC Win (JTCウイン)

Used by

Japanese and English signage: Ibara Railway, Jōmō Electric Railway, Nagasaki Electric Tramway, Shinano Railway

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Jun (じゅん)

Used by

Japanese signage: Kōbe New Transit, Osaka Metro (Nankō Port Town Line)

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Kaku Gothic-tai Ca (角ゴシック体Ca)

Used by

Japanese signage: Eizan Electric Railway

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Kokutesu-ppoi Font (国鉄っぽいフォント)

Used by

Japanese and English signage: Ōigawa Railway

Notes

A free font influenced by Japanese National Railways (JNR) style typefaces, such as Sumimaru Gothic and JNR-L.

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Kozuka Gothic (小塚ゴシック)

Used by

English signage: Tosaden Kōtsū

Kozuka Minchō (小塚明朝)

Used by

Japanese signage: Maihama Resort Line (Disney Resort Line)

LLM Lettering

Used by

Road signs in Malaysia.

Notes

Based on the Italian Alfabeto Normale and Alfabeto Stretto

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LogoG (ロゴG)

Used by

Japanese signage: Hanshin Electric Railway

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LTA Identity Typeface

Used by

Singapore MRT

Lucida Sans Unicode

Used by

English signage: Shizuoka Railway

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Mark Pro

Used by

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality

Meiryo (メイリオ)

Used by

Japanese and English signage: Kōbe Electric Railway (Shintetsu)

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Metrolis

Used by

Lisbon Metro

Notes

Custom font for the 1995 rebranding, designed by the Foundry (Freda Sack and David Quay)

Metron

Used by

Prague Metro

Notes

Created in 1973 by Jiří Rathouský

Midashi Go (見出ゴ)

Used by

Japanese signage: Sapporo Streetcar

Moscow Sans

Used by

Public transport and wayfinding in Moscow since 2015

Notes

Custom font family by Scott Williams and Henrik Kubel (A2-TYPE) in collaboration with Ilya Ruderman (CSTM Fonts)

Motorway

Used by

Motorway route numbers in Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Notes

The numerals are used for exit numbers and route numbers in Portugal.

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Typeface	Used by	Notes	Image
Achemine	SNCF, France	Created in 2008 to improve station accessibility
Alfabeto Normale and Alfabeto Stretto	Road signs in Italy, San Marino and Vatican City Road signs in Albania	Alfabeto Normale is a bolder variant of the British Transport typeface. Alfabeto Stretto is a condensed version of Alfabeto Normale. Both fonts have their own positive (for dark-coloured text on light backgrounds) and negative (for light-coloured text on dark backgrounds) versions.
Antique Olive	California Department of Transportation	Some regulatory signs
Arial	China Railway (English signage) Most Chinese urban rail systems (English signage) Taiwan Railway (English signage) Bengaluru Metro PIDS English signage: Chiba Urban Monorail, Hankai Tramway, Sanyō Electric Railway Road signs in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Laos, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Myanmar, Slovenia, Somalia, Taiwan	Venezuelan road signs mostly use Arial Black, a variant or Arial, for legibility.
Austria	Austria	Being phased out since 2013
Avant Garde	KAI Commuter rail network in Indonesia (before 2021)	Now gradually replaced with Circular in 2021, with remaining old signages still in place.
Avenir	Macau Light Rapid Transit Dublin Airport Minneapolis–Saint Paul Metro Transit
AXIS Font	Japanese and English signage: Hisatsu Orange Railway Japanese signage: Seibu Railway
Bembo	Smithsonian signage in Washington D .
Bodoni	English signage: Yokohama Minatomirai Railway (Minatomirai Line) Bashamichi Station
Boutros Advertisers Naskh	Road signs in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the United Arab Emirates Beirut International Airport	Formerly used in Dubai International Airport and Riyadh International Airport
Brusseline	Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company
Calibri	English signage: Tōyō Rapid Railway
Calvert	Tyne & Wear Metro, United Kingdom.
Caractères	France	Used for road signs in France and in some countries in Africa. In France it is used in four variants known as L1, L2, L4, L5. Its usage is mandated by the Interministerial Instruction on Road Signs and Signals (Instruction interministérielle sur la signalisation routière)
Carretera convencional	Directorate-General for Traffic Road signs in Spain	Proprietary typeface commissioned for this purpose, used on intracity road signs. Derived from the Transport typeface.
Casey	Singapore MRT (since 2019) Changi Airport (since 2022)	Used by Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation until its merger with MTR in 2007. Being gradually replaced by Myriad, which is used by MTR on its networks.
Cast	Most Taiwanese urban rail systems (since 2022)	Designed by Dominique Kerber
Century Gothic	English signage: Kōbe New Transit, Nagaragawa Railway
Cezanne (セザンヌ)	Japanese signage: Iyo Railway (Iyotetsu)
Circular	Transport for West Midlands (since 2018) Kereta Api Indonesia (since 2020)
Clarendon	U . National Park Service road signs	Used by Public Transport Company in Poznań as the typeface for its fleet vehicles numbering
Clearview	Destination signs of Quebec autoroutes (shields are in Highway Gothic) Road signs in Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Israel, Panama, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and the United States	Developed to replace U . FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) typefaces
Dansk Vejtavleskrift	Road signs in Denmark	Derived from the Transport typeface
Deutsche Bahn WLS	Deutsche Bahn station signage	Developed in close reference to Helvetica
DF Heisei Gothic (DF平成ゴシック)	Japanese signage: Chikuhō Electric Railroad (Chikutetsu)
DF Kaisho (DF楷書)	Japanese signage: Tsugaru Railway
DF Maru Gothic (DF丸ゴシック)	Japanese and English signage: Aizu Railway, Noto Railway English signage: Gakunan Electric Train, Izuhakone Railway
DF Reisho (DF隷書)	Japanese and English signage: Fuji Kyūkō (Fujikjyū), Odakyū Hakone (Hakone Tozan Railway) Japanese signage: Heisei Chikuhō Railway (Mojikō Retro Scenic Line)
DIN 1451	Road signs in Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo Counties Road signs in Germany Road signs in the Czech Republic Road signs in Latvia Road signs in the Southern African Development Community Road signs in Brunei Road signs in Singapore Road signs in Syria Bengaluru Metro (Namma Metro) signage Kansai International Airport (KIX) (since 2022) Min	The DIN typeface was used for regulatory and warning Signs in Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties. Also used in the Greek motorway network The DIN typeface for the Namma Metro is in English and Kannada. The DIN typeface is currently in the process of gradually replacing the Frutiger typeface for Kansai Airport during its renovations in pre
Drogowskaz	Polish road signage typeface	One of a few digitalisations; officially the typeface used in Polish road signs has no defined name.
Esseltub	Previously used in Stockholm Metro
FIP signage typeface	Government of Canada	A modified version of Helvetica Medium used by the Government of Canada
FF Fago	ADIF	Used as official font for signage system of all Spanish railway stations owned by the state-owned administrator, ADIF
FF Meta	Stockholm Metro Caltrans Birmingham Airport TransLink (British Columbia)	Some mile marker signs
FF Transit	Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg Düsseldorf Airport Société de transport de Montréal	Developed by MetaDesign for Berlin's public transport company BVG and later adopted by other transport systems. Contains many pictograms for signage. Based on Frutiger.
FF Scala Sans	Los Angeles Metro
FHWA Series typeface (Highway Gothic)	Road signs in the Americas, Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, and Turkey	Developed for U . road signage Formerly used on Spanish motorways Turkey uses two typefaces on road signs based on this typeface – O-Serisi for motorways and E-Serisi for all other roads.
Folk (フォーク)	Japanese and English signage: Ainokaze Toyama Railway
Freight Sans	Kempegowda International Airport
Frutiger	Charles de Gaulle Airport Istanbul Metro(Except M11) Road signs in Switzerland Amtrak Across the public transport network of Oslo, Norway Dulles International Airport (IAD) BAA Airports in the UK, National Health Service in England Frankfurt Airport Buenos Aires Subte JR East (numbers) English signage of many Japanese railway operators	The Frutiger typeface was commissioned for use at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in 1975. It has also been used for regulatory and warning signs in Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Solano, Sonoma, and Yolo Counties.
Futura	Italian railways Street signs in Stockholm
Giaothong1 and Giaothong2	Vietnam	Modification of DIN 1451 typeface with Vietnamese extension
Gill Sans	British Railways (until 1965) Transperth English signage: Maihama Resort Line (Disney Resort Line)	Also the official font for all the signage system of the Spanish Government. Modified variant of Gill Sans Bold Condensed used on road signs in former East Germany until 1990.
Gona (ゴナ)	Japanese and English signage: Mōka Railway, Yagan Railway Japanese signage: Chizu Express, IR Ishikawa Railway, Kantō Railway (Kantetsu), Kashima Rinkai Railway, Manyōsen English signage: Kōnan Railway	A Gothic typeface released by Shaken in 1975, it was once extremely popular as the typeface for railway signage in Japan. However, until October 2024, it was only available for phototypesetting and not as a digital font for desktop publishing, which made it difficult to use. In contrast, a similar typeface called Shin Go, released by rival company
Gothic 4550 (ゴシック4550)	Japanese and English signage: IGR Iwate Galaxy Railway Japanese signage: Kyoto Municipal Subway, Nankai Electric Railway, Wakayama Electric Railway
Gothic MB101 (ゴシックMB101)	Japanese signage: Mizuma Railway
Goudy Old Style	Used on Victoria PTC railway station signs in the 1990s, replacing the green The Met signs.	The blue Metlink signs replaced these signs in 2003 after a short trial of Connex signs (using Verdana) at Mitcham and Rosanna stations.
Hangil	Road signs in South Korea	A Hangul typeface designed by Sandoll Communications in 2008, being used on traffic signs throughout the entire South Korea except for some part of Seoul, along with Panno.