Runway boundary sign
A runway boundary sign stands on a taxiway facing the runway, its face carrying the black runway holding-position marking on yellow, so a pilot who has just exited can see when the aircraft is completely clear of the runway.
![[Runway boundary symbol] Runway boundary sign: two solid bars over dashed bars on yellow, in a gray-framed sign box](/_next/image?url=%2F_next%2Fstatic%2Fmedia%2Frunway-boundary.336m793o7i9f1.png&w=3840&q=75)
![[ILS critical area boundary symbol] ILS critical area boundary sign: yellow ladder pattern on black bars, in a yellow-framed sign box](/_next/image?url=%2F_next%2Fstatic%2Fmedia%2Fils-critical-area-boundary.1oe8b4pskbphz.png&w=3840&q=75)
What a runway boundary sign is
A runway boundary sign is located on a taxiway, facing the runway, and its purpose is to tell a pilot who has just exited the runway when the aircraft is completely clear of it. Its face does not carry text: instead it reproduces the runway holding-position marking — the black "ladder" pattern of two solid and two dashed lines — rendered on a yellow background. When the whole aircraft has passed the sign, it is past the holding-position marking and clear of the runway. It is grouped with the information signs and uses the yellow-and-black scheme.
An FAA sign — and the ICAO runway vacated sign equivalent
The runway boundary sign is an FAA sign type, defined in the FAA's advisory circulars (AC 150/5340-18). There is no direct single-sign equivalent under ICAO Annex 14 Volume I or EASA CS-ADR-DSN; those standards express the same "you are now clear of the runway" idea through the named runway vacated sign rather than through a sign that reproduces the holding-position marking. Because the concept is FAA-specific, this page describes the FAA sign and does not attribute its appearance or placement to ICAO or EASA.
How the holding-position "ladder" pattern reads
The face is a pictorial repeat of the runway holding-position marking painted on the taxiway: two continuous lines on the side toward the runway and two dashed lines on the side away from it. A pilot exiting the runway crosses that marking on the pavement and sees the same pattern on the sign, giving a consistent cue that the aircraft is leaving the runway environment. The rule is simple: once the aircraft is entirely beyond the sign it is beyond the holding-position marking and therefore clear of the runway, at which point the crew can report clear and continue taxiing.
Where it stands relative to the marking
The sign is set on the taxiway alongside the runway holding-position marking, on the far side from the runway, so that it becomes visible to a departing aircraft as it crosses the marking. It complements — rather than replaces — the painted marking and any associated lighting, and it is distinct from the ILS critical area boundary sign, which performs the same "you are now clear" role for the ILS critical area rather than for the runway itself.
Draw them in Wingframe
Wingframe draws runway boundary signs to FAA geometry — the black two-solid, two-dashed holding-position pattern on yellow — so the sign face matches the runway holding-position marking it mirrors. See what Wingframe can do.