What does the Chevron Alignment sign mean?
The Chevron Alignment sign (MUTCD W1-8) is a warning sign under the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the national standard the states build from. It marks the direction of the curve; several are placed through the bend so one is always in view.
Source: MUTCD 11th Edition, Chapter 2C, Table 2C-1, checked 2026-09-09.
What shape and color is the Chevron Alignment sign?
| MUTCD code | W1-8 |
|---|---|
| Group | Warning signs |
| Shape | Vertical rectangle |
| Color | Yellow background, black chevron and border |
What a vertical rectangle means. Usually regulatory: a law you must obey. Speed limits, turn restrictions and parking rules take this shape. Rectangles are the loosely assigned outline in the system, though, so on this sign the shape alone does not tell you its family; the color and the legend do.
What yellow means. General warning of a permanent condition ahead.
Warning signs. A diamond reports a condition and orders nothing. What you do about it is left to you, and that gap between a report and an order is what test writers keep probing.
What is the Chevron Alignment sign often mistaken for?
The black-and-white roundabout directional chevrons (R6-4), which are regulatory. Color is the tell: yellow warns, black-and-white directs.
|  |
|---|---|
| GroupWarning signs | GroupRegulatory signs |
| ShapeVertical rectangle | ShapeHorizontal rectangle |
| ColorYellow background, black chevron and border | ColorBlack background, white chevrons and border |
| What it meansMarks the direction of the curve; several are placed through the bend so one is always in view. | What it meansCirculate around the central island in the direction the chevrons point. |
Which signs get mistaken for the Chevron Alignment sign?
One-Direction Large ArrowW1-6Chevron Alignment (W1-8), which is a vertical rectangle used in a series through the curve. The large arrow is a single sign at the point of the turn.
What are the other warning signs?
All 55 warning signs on one page, or every US road sign by shape and color.
Test yourself on this sign and the rest of the set with a road signs practice test for Florida, Texas or California.
The artwork is the federal design itself, which the manual dedicates to the public domain in MUTCD 11th Edition, Part 1, Section 1D.06, checked 2026-09-09. The Interstate Shield, the 511 pictograph and the National Scenic Byway graphic are named exceptions and are not reproduced anywhere on this site.
Source: Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, 11th Edition. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Federal Highway Administration or any state agency.