Direction signs
A direction sign carries a taxiway designation and an arrow pointing the way to it. Black on yellow, it is how a pilot chooses which way to turn at a taxiway intersection.
![[UA ←U→] Direction assembly: location sign UA with direction signs for taxiway U to the left and right, in a gray sign box](/_next/image?url=%2F_next%2Fstatic%2Fmedia%2Fdirection-array-ua-u.02n3jszv88nsz.png&w=3840&q=75)
What a direction sign is
A direction sign identifies a taxiway and shows, with an arrow, the direction to take to reach it. It is placed at the junctions where a pilot has to make a decision — typically at a taxiway/taxiway intersection — and it is one of the information signs, so it carries a black inscription on a yellow background.
Direction sign, taxiway direction sign — the same sign
The sign is called a direction sign under ICAO Annex 14 Volume I (5.4.3.31) and EASA CS-ADR-DSN, and a taxiway direction sign (equipment type L-858Y) by the FAA. The inscription is the same in each case: an alpha or alphanumeric message identifying the taxiway, plus an arrow oriented towards it.
A runway exit sign is built from the same elements — a single taxiway designation with an arrow — but the two are told apart by more than siting:
- Arrow direction. A runway exit arrow always turns off the runway: it cannot point straight ahead (along the runway), and it cannot point back at more than 90°. A designation with a straight-ahead arrow, or an assembly of several arrows, can only be a direction sign.
- Legend height. On code 3 and 4 runways the exit sign carries a larger legend: 400 mm, where direction and destination signs use 300 mm. The bigger characters are what a crew can read during the landing rollout.
The FAA treats runway exit signs as a direction-sign application, while ICAO and EASA list them as a separate sign type with its own provisions. A direction array — several designations with arrows arranged around a location sign, as in the illustration above — is always a direction assembly.
How the arrows work
Each taxiway designation on the sign carries exactly one arrow indicating the approximate direction to that taxiway from the intersection: a left turn takes a left-pointing arrow placed to the left of the designation, a right turn a right-pointing arrow to the right, and a taxiway continuing straight ahead an upward arrow. Under the FAA convention (AC 150/5340-18H §1.8.2) every designation on a direction sign carries an arrow — a straight-ahead panel may be omitted only where the taxiway continues ahead under the same designation, but where the designation changes it is provided with a straight-ahead (upward) arrow.
When one sign carries several taxiways, the messages are ordered by the direction of their arrows — running clockwise, so that the sequence you read matches the sequence of turns available. Adjacent messages that point different ways are separated by a vertical black line so the two cannot be misread as one. ICAO Annex 14 (5.4.3.34) sets out this ordering, and it is mirrored in EASA CS-ADR-DSN and the FAA advisory circular.
Direction signs and location signs together
Direction signs are frequently mounted in the same array as a location sign. The convention is to place the location sign in the array and arrange the direction messages to its left and right according to whether the turn is to the left or the right — the first illustration above shows exactly this: a left arrow to taxiway A, the location B in the middle, and a right arrow to taxiway C.
Draw them in Wingframe
Wingframe draws direction signs to ICAO, EASA and FAA geometry: correct arrow shapes and angles, character heights, and the vertical black delineators between messages — and it keeps the clockwise ordering right as you build the array. See what Wingframe can do.