Town sign
{{Short description|A type of road sign}}
{{Refimprove|date=November 2016}}
A town sign or city limit sign is a road sign placed at the side of the road or street at the boundary of the territory of a city, town, or village. Town signs may be placed for reading both by drivers entering the town and, in a different format, by those exiting it. Signs give the name of the town in the local official languages, and sometimes in other languages. In some countries, town signs are also an essential part of the traffic law, for example by defining (explicitly or implicitly) the speed limit within the town's territory.
By country
In some countries, such as Germany and Austria, town signs aren't placed exactly at the city/town boundary, but rather where the continuous urban area begins and ends.{{cn|date=June 2025}}
= Austria =
==Bilingual sign issue==
On September 6, 1994, Austrian lawyer Rudi Vouk (of Slovenian ancestry) drove faster than the speed limit of 50 kilometers per hour while driving through St. Kanzian, also known as Škocjan.{{Cite journal |last=Ketteman |first=Matthias C. |date=2010 |title=How to Implement Controversial Court Decisions: International Constitutional Lessons from Brown v. Board of Education for the Austrian Cases on Topographical Signs in Carinthia |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/vioincl4&div=48&g_sent=1 |journal=Vienna Online Journal on International Constitutional Law |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=590–623 |via=heinonline.org}} In the court case that followed, Vouk refused to pay the speeding ticket, arguing that the monolingual sign was unconstitutional.
In December 2006, the Constitutional Court of Austria found that city limit signs had to be bilingual.{{Cite journal |last=Klingenbrunner |first=Alexander |date=13 December 2006 |title=Bilingual Topography: Differences between German and Slovenian Place Names In Size are Unconstitutional |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/vioincl2&id=143&men_tab=srchresults |journal=Vienna Online Journal on International Constitutional Law |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=146–148 |via=heinonline.org}} The facts of the case were that the district authority of Völkermarkt District had ordered signs for the city limits of Bleiburg, Ebersdorf, and Schwabegg to be put up only in German. After this was found to be unconstitutional, the signs were also put up in Slovenian, but smaller; the court found that this too was unconstitutional.
As of 2010, the issue of bilingual city signs in Austria has not been resolved.
= United Kingdom =
In the United Kingdom, town sign may refer to a prominent, decorative, often carved sign, commemorating the values and history of the town. Synonymous with Village sign; Commonly in the centre of the town.
= United States =
In much of the United States, there is a similar county sign at the boundary between each county (or independent city not part of one), indicating the county being entered and often the one being left. Even if not done within a given U.S. state, there is also nearly always a welcome sign at the state line on every major highway, and most any other road. The welcome signs on Interstate highways are usually very large and have graphics, and may have an attached text-only sign directing motorists to the welcome center at a rest area. On smaller roads, they are usually more similar to town signs, showing the state and county, often with other signs indicating speed limit, a state law (such as "burn headlights during rain"), and/or a change in time zone.
Gallery
{{commons category|City limit signs}}
Leander Architectural Welcome Sign - Congleton.jpg|Cast aluminium welcome sign for Congleton, United Kingdom
Entrée dans Barberaz.JPG|The border between the French communes of Chambéry and Barberaz
Wagmatcook First Nation.jpg|Mi'kmaq community of Wagmatcook in Nova Scotia, Canada
Kagoshima prefectural roads 42 Satsumasendai-Aira border.JPG|Sign in Japan
Znakpogoda.jpg|Entry sign, Chłopków, Poland
Kamouraska - QC - city limit sign.jpg|Sign in the Canadian province of Québec
Vlotho-Schild.JPG|Vlotho in the district of Herford, Germany
Budyšin – měšćanska tafla (2021).jpg|Bilingual entry signs in German and Upper Sorbian in Upper Lusatia, Germany
Tallinn entrance-Road N2.jpg|Entrance to Tallinn along the highway 2 (E263) in Estonia
Llechryd Roadsign.jpg | Bilingual English-Welsh sign with speed limit, Llechryd
PineHillSign.jpg|One of Catskill Park's brown and yellow town signs, showing the hamlet of Pine Hill, New York, United States
Stafford, Texas City Limit Sign-Texas FM Route 1092.jpg| Entry sign for Stafford, Texas on FM 1092
Town Exit and Confirmation Sign.JPG|Town exit sign in Villarrubia de los Ojos, Ciudad Real, with a reassurance marker
Denizli il tabelasi.jpg|Sign in Turkey
Oudtshoorn bord.jpg|Sign in South Africa
ALAcityborder.JPG|Sign in Kazakhstan
Beregszasz_city_limit_sign_rovas_script.JPG|Bilingual entry signs in Beregszász / Berehove / Берегово (Ukraine) - with Cyrillic letters (for Ukrainian), Hungarian letters (for Hungarians) and rovas letters (for 12th-century Magyars)
Łubowice_tablica.jpg|Bilingual entry sign in Polish and German in Łubowice, Poland
Chotebuz.jpg|Bilingual exit sign in Czech and Polish in Trans-Olza, Czech Republic
CeduleVojenský_újezd_Hradiště.jpg|Entry sign in Hradiště Military Training Area, Karlovy Vary Region, Czech Republic
Bambrugge bebouwde kom.jpg|The speed limit of 50 km/h in Bambrugge
Taajama kyltti Vimpelissä.jpg|A town area sign (with the speed limit of 40 km/h) in Vimpeli, Finland
Plaknammeboerd Damwâld.png|Entry sign in Damwâld, Netherlands
Зайцеве, стела на в'їзді до села, 27 лип 2019.jpg|Entry sign in Zaitseve, Ukraine