2.4 Informatory Signs & the Shape–Colour Master Table
Key Takeaways
Rectangular and square signs usually give directions, distances, or facilities, but a one-way arrow also restricts travel to the shown direction.
A blue rectangle with a single white arrow marks a one-way street; a blue square with a white P marks parking; a blue square with H marks a hospital
The triangular pedestrian-crossing WARNING sign appears in advance of the crossing; the blue square informatory sign marks the crossing itself
Direction boards list towns with distances in kilometres — advance signs before a junction, finger-posts at it, confirmatory signs after it
Use shape and colour to identify a likely sign family, then read the symbol and any plate; a one-way rectangle is binding.
2.4 Informatory Signs & the Shape–Colour Master Table
Quick Answer: Informatory signs are rectangular or square, usually blue or green, and they commonly show directions or facilities; a one-way arrow also specifies the permitted travel direction. Learn them alongside the master table at the end of this section: triangle warns, red circle forbids, blue circle commands, rectangle informs.
What Informatory Signs Do
Everything you have studied so far in this chapter changes your behaviour: a triangle makes you slow down, a red circle stops you doing something, a blue circle makes you do something. Many informatory signs help you navigate and find facilities. But the one-way arrow is consequential: driving against its shown direction is prohibited. Read the actual symbol and any plate before deciding what to do. That does not make them unexaminable. Practise reading the symbol itself: a direction board guides route choice, while a one-way arrow indicates a binding travel direction.
Most informatory signs are blue rectangles or squares with white symbols. Green boards are used on primary routes and motorways, and white or local-colour boards for minor destinations.
The Signs You Must Recognise
- One-way street: a blue rectangle with a single white arrow pointing along the permitted direction of travel. Traffic the other way is prohibited, which is why the far end of the street is guarded by the red no-entry disc from Section 2.2. Contrast it carefully with the blue circle arrow, which is a mandatory instruction about your own next movement.
- Parking: a blue square with a white letter P. Parking is available here; supplementary plates may add distance, direction, hours, or payment conditions. Do not confuse it with the red-slashed no-parking disc — one invites, the other restricts.
- Hospital: a blue square with a white H (some versions show a bed). It guides you toward a hospital or clinic. Drive quietly nearby: health-facility zones commonly carry a no-horn restriction and the 30 km/h limit applies.
- Pedestrian crossing (informatory): a blue square containing a white triangle with a walking figure, marking the actual location of the crossing and working with the zebra stripes painted on the road. Contrast it with the triangular warning sign from Section 2.1, which appears in advance. The exam loves this pair: triangle warns it is coming; blue square shows where it is.
- Dead end / no through road: a red or black T-shape on a blue square. The road does not connect onward — useful in dense urban layouts where a wrong turn costs you a reversing manoeuvre in a narrow street.
- Bus stop, telephone, first aid, fuel, and service signs: blue squares with the relevant white symbol, marking facilities on or beside the route.
- Motorway and expressway boards: green rectangles marking where motorway regulations begin and end, for example on the Accra–Tema Motorway. Where those rules apply, pedestrians, bicycles, and animals are prohibited.
Route and Direction Signs
Large rectangular boards naming towns ahead with distances in kilometres are the workhorses of Ghanaian long-distance driving. Learn the three positions in which they appear, because the exam asks about them by function:
| Sign | Where it appears | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Advance direction sign | Before the junction | Lets you choose your lane early |
| Finger-post / flag sign | At the junction itself | Points along the actual turning |
| Confirmatory sign | After the junction | Reassures you that you took the right road, and repeats distances |
A board reading "Kumasi 250" on the way out of Accra is giving you a distance in kilometres, not a speed, a toll, or a count of anything. Nearer destinations are listed first, higher on the board, which is why the top line changes as you travel while the bottom line stays put.
The Shape + Colour Master Table
This table is a useful first pass for identifying sign families. Shape and colour alone cannot determine every rule: read the symbol and any supplementary plate.
| Shape | Colour | Category | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Triangle, point up | Red border, white inside | Warning | Hazard ahead — slow down, prepare to stop |
| Circle | Red border, white inside | Prohibitory | You must NOT do this (limits, no entry, bans) |
| Circle | Blue background | Mandatory | You MUST do this (keep left, turn, circulate) |
| Octagon | Red with white word | Regulatory (Stop) | Stop completely at the line, always |
| Inverted triangle | Red border | Regulatory (Give Way) | Yield to traffic on the major road |
| Rectangle / square | Blue or green | Informatory | Usually directions or facilities; one-way direction binds |
| Circle | Grey with black slash | End of restriction | The previous limit or ban no longer applies |
Drill it until the mapping is automatic: triangle warns, red circle forbids, blue circle commands, rectangle informs, grey slash releases. Use that pattern as a starting point, then check the exact symbol and any plate.
Putting the Chapter Together
Work through any unfamiliar sign in this fixed order and you will rarely be wrong:
- What shape is it? That gives you the family.
- What colour is the border or fill? That tells you whether it warns, forbids, commands, or informs.
- Only then read the symbol to learn the specific subject.
- Check for a supplementary plate beneath it — distances, times, vehicle classes, and arrows routinely narrow a sign's application.
The fourth step catches the hardest questions in the bank, where the sign itself is easy but a plate restricts it to goods vehicles, to certain hours, or to a stated distance ahead.
On a blue rectangular board ahead you see town names with figures such as Kumasi 250 beside them. What is this sign telling you?
The speed limit in km/h that applies until you reach each town
A direction sign giving the route and the distance in kilometres to each destination
The number of fuel stations available between you and each town
The toll amount in cedis charged before each town
Which pair of signs correctly distinguishes an advance warning of a pedestrian crossing from the marking of the crossing itself?
A blue circle warns in advance; a red-bordered circle marks the crossing
A red-bordered triangle warns in advance; a blue square marks the crossing itself
A green rectangle warns in advance; an octagon marks the crossing itself
Both are shown by the same red-bordered triangle, repeated twice
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.