Traffic signs in post-Soviet states

The road signs in the post-Soviet states Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan are largely similar to the Soviet road sign system, as these countries were part of the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991. However, in some countries of the former USSR, some road signs may look different from the Soviet ones. The Soviet Union was a signatory to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals.^[1] After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, most of the post-Soviet states adopted their own road sign standards. Many of them use road sign systems that inherited the road sign system used in the Soviet Union before 1991, but with some modifications, except for Estonia and Latvia that use completely different road sign systems. Estonia and Latvia have their own road sign systems, which are very different in design from the Soviet one. Modern road signs in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan comply with the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals as well as most European countries. Of the 15 former post-Soviet states, only Belarus, Russia and Ukraine have signed and ratified the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals on behalf of the Soviet socialist republics. These 3 countries have ratified this convention on June 18, 1974.^[2]

The standard for road signs, ГОСТ 10807-78, was initially adopted in the Soviet Union on January 1, 1980, and remained in effect in several years in Russia and some post-Soviet states after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.^[3][4] However, since January 1, 2006, this standard has become invalid in Russia and has been replaced by ГОСТ Р 52290-2004.^[5][6][7] The font outlined in such laws is currently in digitization in Github and is in use in all former Soviet countries with the exceptions of Azerbaijan, Estonia (both using Arial), Latvia (using DIN 1451) and recently Ukraine (using a new font called Road UA). Again except for Ukraine, all cities destinations in former Soviet states are written with all-uppercase letters.

Also, a similar road sign system is used in Mongolia, despite the fact that it was never part of the Soviet Union. Road signs in Mongolia are regulated in the MNS 4597:2014 standard.^[8][9]

All post-Soviet states drive on the right, as in the rest of Europe (except for Cyprus, Ireland, Malta, and the United Kingdom). Each of these countries also use metric system; thus speed limits are in kilometres per hour, and distances are in kilometres or metres.

Road signs in each of the 15 post-Soviet states are regulated by the following documents:

Road sign standards in post-Soviet states

Country	Document
Armenia	Հայաստանի հանրապետության Ճանապարհային երթեվեկության կանոնները եվ տրանսպորտային միջոցների շահագործումն արգելող անսարքությունների եվ պայմանների ցանկը հաստատելու մասին (Hayastani hanrapetut’yan Chanaparhayin yert’evekut’yan kanonnery yev transportayin mijots’neri shahagortsumn argelogh ansark’ut’yunneri yev paymanneri ts’anky hastatelu masin)[10]
Azerbaijan	Azərbaycan Respublikası Yol Hərəkəti haqqında qanun, Yol nişanları[11]
Belarus	СТБ 1140-2013 «Технические средства организации дорожного движения. Знаки дорожные. Общие технические условия» (in Russian) / СТБ 1140-2013 «Тэхнічныя сродкі арганізацыі дарожнага руху. Знакі дарожныя. Агульныя тэхнічныя ўмовы» (in Belarusian)[12]
Estonia	Liiklusmärkide ja teemärgiste tähendused ning nõuded fooridele[13]
Georgia	საგზაო მოძრაობის შესახებ (Sagzao modzraobis shesakheb)[14]
Kazakhstan	СТ РК 1412-2017 «Технические средства регулирования дорожного движения. Правила применения» (in Russian) / ҚР СТ 1412-2017 «Жол қозғалысын ұйымдастырудың техникалық құралдары. Қолданылу ережелері» (in Kazakh),[15] СТ РК 1125-2021 «Технические средства организации дорожного движения. Знаки дорожные. Общие технические требования» (in Russian) / ҚР СТ 1125-2021 «Жол қозғалысын ұйымдастырудың техникалық құралдары. Жол белгілері. Жалпы техникалық талаптар» (in Kazakh)[16][17]
Kyrgyzstan	Правила дорожного движения (in Russian) / Жол кыймылынын эрежелери (in Kyrgyz),[18] ГОСТ Р 52289-2019 Технические средства организации дорожного движения. Правила применения дорожных знаков, разметки, светофоров, дорожных ограждений и направляющих устройств[19]
Latvia	LVS 77-1:2016 "Ceļa zīmes. 1. daļa: Ceļa zīmes", LVS 77-2:2016 "Ceļa zīmes. 2. daļa: Uzstādīšanas noteikumi", LVS 77-3:2016 "Ceļa zīmes. 3. daļa: Tehniskās prasības"[20]
Lithuania	Dėl Kelių eismo taisyklių patvirtinimo[21]
Moldova	Cu privire la aprobarea modificărilor și completărilor ce se operează în Regulamentul circulației rutiere[22]
Russia	О Правилах дорожного движения,[23] ГОСТ Р 52289-2019 Технические средства организации дорожного движения. Правила применения дорожных знаков, разметки, светофоров, дорожных ограждений и направляющих устройств[19]
Tajikistan	Қоидаҳои ҳаракат дар роҳ[24][25]
Turkmenistan	Ýol hereketi we howpsuzlygy[26]
Ukraine	ДСТУ 4100:2021 Безпека дорожнього руху[27]
Uzbekistan	Yo'l harakati qoidalarini tasdiqlash to'g'risida / Йўл ҳаракати қоидаларини тасдиқлаш тўғрисида[28]

There may be variations in the post-Soviet states' road signs despite the fact that many of them adopted the road sign system used in the Soviet Union prior to its dissolution in 1991. The main differences between traffic signs in post-Soviet states relate to:

• Graphic design details
• Local regulatory significance
• The colour-coding of directional signs
• Local language texts (in most post-Soviet states traffic signs can be bilingual or sometimes trilingual). In most post-Soviet states, the names of settlements and geographical objects can be written both in the country's official language and in English or in Latin script, mostly in countries that use non-Latin scripts in their official languages. Previously, the Soviet Union used primarily Russian on road signs, as well as the languages of the republics that were part of the USSR before they get an independence from the Soviet Union between 1990 and 1991. Below there are differences between local language texts in today's post-Soviet states:
  • Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Ukraine (including territories occupied by Russia since 2014 during the Russo-Ukrainian war and its subsequent Russian invasion of Ukraine since February 24, 2022, and Crimea annexed by Russia) mostly use Cyrillic script on road signs. Armenia and Georgia use Armenian and Georgian scripts on road signs respectively. Cyrillic script is also used on road signs in territories of post-Soviet states occupied by Russia: the unrecognised Transnistria (a result of the Transnistria War in 1990-1992), partially recognised Donetsk People's Republic, Luhansk People's Republic (a result of the War in Donbas in 2014-2022), Abkhazia and South Ossetia (a result of the wars in Abkhazia in 1992-1993 and 1998, the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War and the 2008 Russo-Georgian War).
    • Road signs in Abkhazia are trilingual: Abkhaz, Russian and English.^[29]
  • Azerbaijan, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan mainly or solely use Latin script on road signs since their official languages use Latin script. Azerbaijan, Moldova, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, which previously used Cyrillic script in their official languages, switched to Latin script in the 1990s after the collapse of the USSR. Recently, in Kazakhstan, as part of its possible shift to the Latin alphabet in Kazakh, the Latin script on road signs is actively used.

• Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan use typefaces based on one specified in a Soviet standard ГОСТ 10807–78.^[3] For example, in Belarus, the applicable standard is СТБ 1140–99; in Ukraine, it is ДСТУ 4100–2002; In Russia, it is ГОСТ Р 52290–2004; and in Kazakhstan, it is СТ РК 1125–2002.
  • Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan may use the Arial Bold typeface in road signs instead of one specified in a Soviet standard ГОСТ 10807–78, especially in numerals on speed limit road signs, directional, and informatory signs.^[5] Also, the Helvetica typeface is sometimes used in road signs.
    • In Kazakhstan, the Helvetica typeface is sometimes used in directional road signs instead of Arial Bold.
  • Georgia uses the BalavMtavr and Arial Black typefaces on road signs.^[30]
  • Ukraine has recently started using the Road UA typeface, as part of a signage redesign.^[31]
  • Turkmenistan may also use the FHWA typeface as well as on road signs in Turkey since road signs in Turkmenistan may sometimes copy the Turkish road sign system.
• Estonia uses the Arial Narrow Bold typeface.^[32]
• Latvia uses the DIN 1451 typeface.^[33]

In all post-Soviet states, destinations on direction signs are written in capital letters, except for Ukraine's new road sign system, adopted in 2021.

In general, warning signs in post-Soviet states have a triangular shape with a red border and a white background, as in most European countries.

• Latvia uses warning signs with a thicker red triangle.
• Lithuania does not use the Tramway and Tram stop road sign due to the absence of tramways in its territory.

• Road works and construction warning signs have a triangular shape with a red border and a white, amber, or yellow background. The Soviet Union formerly only used a white background on road works and construction warning signs. Today, only Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, and Lithuania still use a white background on these warning signs, while Belarus, Estonia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan only use an amber background, and Moldova uses a yellow background, like most temporary warning signs.

• Armenia use both ԿԱՆԳ kang and STOP text in stop signs while most other post-Soviet states only use STOP text in stop signs regardless of the country's official language .
• Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan use End of priority road sign with 5 thin black diagonal lines .
• Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Russia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, use Priority road and End of priority road signs with a rounded bright orange square and outlines with rounded corners.
• Estonia uses Priority road and End of priority road signs with a light yellow right-angle square and a right-angle square outline .
• Moldova and Ukraine use Priority road and End of priority road signs with a light rounded yellow square and outlines with rounded corners .
• Latvia uses a Give way sign with a thick red triangle , End of priority road sign with three thick black diagonal lines and light yellow square with right angles on it .
• Almost all post-Soviet states, except for Latvia and Georgia, use a long black arrow down and a short red arrow up on Give way to oncoming traffic signs , long white arrow up and a red short arrow down on Priority over oncoming traffic signs . Latvia has a different look on Give way to oncoming traffic and Priority over oncoming traffic signs so these signs look closer to the rest of Europe. Georgia uses the similar tactic as Latvia on the Give way to oncoming traffic and the Priority over oncoming traffic signs .

Most prohibitory signs use a red circle or a red circle with a slash, as in the rest of Europe.

• Latvia uses prohibitory signs with a thick red circle.

• Road signs Turn right and Turn left use a 90-degree arrow or a straight arrow to the right and left, respectively. The Soviet Union formerly used a straight arrow to the right and left for Turn right and Turn left signs, respectively. Today, most post-Soviet states, with the exception of Azerbaijan, Lithuania and Turkmenistan only use the 90-degree arrow for Turn Right and Turn Left signs. However, the straight-arrow variant of these road signs may still be used in most post-Soviet states. In accordance with ГОСТ Р 52290-2004 in Russia and post-Soviet states, images of the signs Turn right and Turn left have been changed since 2006.^[34][35] In Ukraine, since April 2013, images of Turn right and Turn left signs have been modified by replacing straight arrows with 90-degree ones.^[36]
  • Estonia and Latvia use both straight and 90-degree arrows for Turn Right and Turn Left signs.
  • Azerbaijan, Lithuania and Turkmenistan continue to use the straight arrow for Turn Right and Turn Left signs, as they did during the Soviet era.

• In all post-Soviet states, a rectangular road sign with a long white arrow pointing right or left on a blue background designates the exit to a one-way road on road junctions. The arrow on the sign shows the direction of one-way traffic and prohibits movement opposite to the direction of the arrow. Unlike most European countries, rectangular one-way road signs are only placed in front of intersections. At T-junctions, these signs are installed at the exit from a secondary road to the main one-way road, most often in conjunction with a Give way traffic sign or sometimes with a Stop sign, whereas other European countries use Turn right ( and/or ) or Turn left ( and/or ) signs at these T-junctions. Additionally, this rectangular road sign can be installed at the X-junctions with a one-way road in conjunction with the Priority road or Give way sign. In the rest of Europe, road signs Go straight or turn right , Go straight or turn left or No left turn , No right turn are often installed in front of X-junctions with one-way roads.
  • Moldova uses a different version of a rectangular one-way road sign with the SENS UNIC text in black inside the arrow , likewise in Romania , but it has a smaller SENS UNIC text compared to the Romanian one.
• In post-Soviet states, the sign indicating the end of a one-way road has a crossed-out up arrow inside the square . However, Lithuania uses a different sign to mark the end of a one-way road, and is only used if a one-way road meets a two-way road at an intersection. The Lithuanian sign has an up arrow on the right and a down arrow on the left . Signs marking the end of a one-way road are not found anywhere else in Europe and Asia in this form.
• Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine use a green background on the Motorway sign. Lithuania formerly used only green background on the Motorway sign; now it uses both green and blue background on the Motorway sign, which makes it the only post-Soviet state to use both green and blue background on the highway sign and at the same time one of the few countries in Europe to use these two background colors on this sign.
  • Estonia uses a blue background on the Motorway sign as other European countries do, but no roads fall under motorway regulations and it is not used.
  • Latvia does not use the Motorway road sign due to the absence of motorways in its territory.
  • It was already that:
  • Lithuania does not use the Tramway and Tram stop road sign due to the absence of tramways in its territory.
• Most post-Soviet states use the red cross on Hospital and First aid road signs, while Belarus uses the green cross instead, and Tajikistan uses the red crescent as well as in other Muslim countries.^[5][12][25] From 2002 to 2021, Ukraine formerly used a white cross inside a green square on these medicine-related road signs.^[37][38]

• Kilometer signs are used to indicate the distance from the place of its installation to the start or end point of the road and are set after 1 km. Such signs usually have from one to four digits. A maximum of 4 digits on kilometer signs are used on highways in Russia and Central Asian countries, whose length exceeds 1000 kilometers, due to the huge area of these countries. In the Baltic States, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, a maximum of 3 digits are used on kilometer signs.

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This table below shows the differences in color shades on road signs in post-Soviet states. Some of the post-Soviet states may have different shades of red, blue, green and yellow or amber colors on road signs. The table below lists the hexadecimal codes for the various color shades used on road signs in post-Soviet states. Estonia, Latvia, Moldova and Ukraine use simillar colors.

	Armenia	Azerbaijan	Belarus	Estonia	Georgia	Kazakhstan	Kyrgyzstan	Latvia	Lithuania	Moldova	Russia	Tajikistan	Turkmenistan	Ukraine	Uzbekistan
Red	#ff0000	#ff0000	#ff0000	#f02b30	#ff0000	#ff0000	#ff0000	#ed1a3a	#ff0000	#ed1c24	#ff0000	#ff0000	#ff0000	#da251d	#ff0000
Blue	#0d69e1	#0d69e1	#0d69e1	#00a7d1	#0d69e1	#0d69e1	#0d69e1	#283996	#0d69e1	#0000fe	#0d69e1	#0d69e1	#0d69e1	#005da2	#0d69e1
Yellow or orange	#ffcc00	#ffcc00	#ffcc00	#ffde22	#ffcc00	#ffcc00	#ffcc00	#fedd2e	#ffcc00	#ffff00	#ffcc00	#ffcc00	#ffcc00	#fff200	#ffcc00
Green	#00a500	#00a500	#00a500	#57ac1b	#00a500	#00a500	#00a500	#00a650	#00a500	#007c02	#00a500	#00a500	#00a500	#04ae67	#00a500

	Soviet Union	Armenia	Azerbaijan	Belarus	Estonia	Georgia	Kazakhstan	Kyrgyzstan	Latvia	Lithuania	Moldova	Russia	Tajikistan	Turkmenistan	Ukraine	Uzbekistan
Stop
Give Way
Priority road
End of priority road
Give way to oncoming traffic
Priority over oncoming traffic
Stop ahead
Give Way ahead
	Soviet Union	Armenia	Azerbaijan	Belarus	Estonia	Georgia	Kazakhstan	Kyrgyzstan	Latvia	Lithuania	Moldova	Russia	Tajikistan	Turkmenistan	Ukraine	Uzbekistan

	Soviet Union	Armenia	Azerbaijan	Belarus	Estonia	Georgia	Kazakhstan	Kyrgyzstan	Latvia	Lithuania	Moldova	Russia	Tajikistan	Turkmenistan	Ukraine	Uzbekistan
Curve
Series of curves
Crossroads (with priority to the right)
Crossroads (with a minor road)
Roundabout
Traffic signals
Two-way traffic
Traffic queues
Steep ascent
Steep descent
	Soviet Union	Armenia	Azerbaijan	Belarus	Estonia	Georgia	Kazakhstan	Kyrgyzstan	Latvia	Lithuania	Moldova	Russia	Tajikistan	Turkmenistan	Ukraine	Uzbekistan
Pedestrian crossing
Pedestrians
Children
Cyclists
Domesticated animals
Wild animals
Road narrows
Uneven surface
Bump
Dip
	Soviet Union	Armenia	Azerbaijan	Belarus	Estonia	Georgia	Kazakhstan	Kyrgyzstan	Latvia	Lithuania	Moldova	Russia	Tajikistan	Turkmenistan	Ukraine	Uzbekistan
Slippery surface
End of paved surface
Loose surface material
Soft or low verges
Falling rocks
Crosswinds
Unprotected body of water
Opening bridge
Tunnel
Low-flying aircraft
	Soviet Union	Armenia	Azerbaijan	Belarus	Estonia	Georgia	Kazakhstan	Kyrgyzstan	Latvia	Lithuania	Moldova	Russia	Tajikistan	Turkmenistan	Ukraine	Uzbekistan
Accident
Blind spot
Trams
Level crossing with barriers ahead
Level crossing without barriers ahead
Level crossing (single track)
Level crossing (multiple tracks)
Roadworks
Other danger
	Soviet Union	Armenia	Azerbaijan	Belarus	Estonia	Georgia	Kazakhstan	Kyrgyzstan	Latvia	Lithuania	Moldova	Russia	Tajikistan	Turkmenistan	Ukraine	Uzbekistan

Note: in most post-Soviet states, crossroads warning signs, including those in Russia and the CIS countries, are classified as priority signs, despite the fact that these signs have a shape typical of warning signs in European countries.

	Soviet Union	Armenia	Azerbaijan	Belarus	Estonia	Georgia	Kazakhstan	Kyrgyzstan	Latvia	Lithuania	Moldova	Russia	Tajikistan	Turkmenistan	Ukraine	Uzbekistan
No entry
No vehicles
No motor vehicles
No motorcycles
No mopeds
No pedal cycles
No heavy goods vehicles
No buses
No vehicles pulling a trailer
	Soviet Union	Armenia	Azerbaijan	Belarus	Estonia	Georgia	Kazakhstan	Kyrgyzstan	Latvia	Lithuania	Moldova	Russia	Tajikistan	Turkmenistan	Ukraine	Uzbekistan
No agricultural vehicles
No animal-drawn vehicles
No vehicles carrying dangerous goods
No vehicles carrying explosives or inflammables
No vehicles carrying water pollutants
Height limit
Width limit
Length limit
Weight limit
Weight limit per axle
	Soviet Union	Armenia	Azerbaijan	Belarus	Estonia	Georgia	Kazakhstan	Kyrgyzstan	Latvia	Lithuania	Moldova	Russia	Tajikistan	Turkmenistan	Ukraine	Uzbekistan
No stopping
No parking
Customs
Police
Danger
Control
No right turn
No left turn
No U-turn
No overtaking
No overtaking by heavy goods vehicles
Minimum following distance between vehicles
No honking
No pedestrians
	Soviet Union	Armenia	Azerbaijan	Belarus	Estonia	Georgia	Kazakhstan	Kyrgyzstan	Latvia	Lithuania	Moldova	Russia	Tajikistan	Turkmenistan	Ukraine	Uzbekistan
Speed limit
Speed limit zone
	Soviet Union	Armenia	Azerbaijan	Belarus	Estonia	Georgia	Kazakhstan	Kyrgyzstan	Latvia	Lithuania	Moldova	Russia	Tajikistan	Turkmenistan	Ukraine	Uzbekistan

	Soviet Union	Armenia	Azerbaijan	Belarus	Estonia	Georgia	Kazakhstan	Kyrgyzstan	Latvia	Lithuania	Moldova	Russia	Tajikistan	Turkmenistan	Ukraine	Uzbekistan
Go straight
Turn right
Go straight or turn right
Turn left or right
Roundabout
Keep right
May pass on either side
Minimum speed limit
Route for motor vehicles
Route for vehicles carrying dangerous goods
	Soviet Union	Armenia	Azerbaijan	Belarus	Estonia	Georgia	Kazakhstan	Kyrgyzstan	Latvia	Lithuania	Moldova	Russia	Tajikistan	Turkmenistan	Ukraine	Uzbekistan
Footpath
Cycle path
Shared pedestrian and cycle path
Segregated pedestrian and cycle path
Bridle path
	Soviet Union	Armenia	Azerbaijan	Belarus	Estonia	Georgia	Kazakhstan	Kyrgyzstan	Latvia	Lithuania	Moldova	Russia	Tajikistan	Turkmenistan	Ukraine	Uzbekistan

	Soviet Union	Armenia	Azerbaijan	Belarus	Estonia	Georgia	Kazakhstan	Kyrgyzstan	Latvia	Lithuania	Moldova	Russia	Tajikistan	Turkmenistan	Ukraine	Uzbekistan
One-way traffic
Bus lane
Contra-flow bus lane
Pedestrian crossing
Blind pedestrian crossing
Diagonal pedestrian crossing
Speed bump
Living street
Pedestrian zone
Tunnel
Limited-access road
Motorway
	Soviet Union	Armenia	Azerbaijan	Belarus	Estonia	Georgia	Kazakhstan	Kyrgyzstan	Latvia	Lithuania	Moldova	Russia	Tajikistan	Turkmenistan	Ukraine	Uzbekistan