What does the Circular Intersection (Roundabout Ahead) sign mean?
The Circular Intersection (Roundabout Ahead) sign (MUTCD W2-6) is a warning sign under the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the national standard the states build from. A circulating intersection is coming up. Entry runs on gaps: everything already going around the island holds priority, so slow enough to take a gap rather than make one.
Source: MUTCD 11th Edition, Chapter 2C, Table 2C-1, checked 2026-09-09.
What shape and color is the Circular Intersection (Roundabout Ahead) sign?
| MUTCD code | W2-6 |
|---|---|
| Group | Warning signs |
| Shape | Diamond |
| Color | Yellow background, black circular arrow symbol and border |
What a diamond means. A warning. It tells you what the road does next and obliges you to do nothing in particular, which is the distinction test writers probe most often.
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 Circular Intersection (Roundabout Ahead) sign often mistaken for?
The black-and-white roundabout directional sign (R6-4) at the island itself, and the ROUNDABOUT plaque (W16-12aP) which is text, not a symbol.
|  |
|---|---|
| GroupWarning signs | GroupRegulatory signs |
| ShapeDiamond | ShapeHorizontal rectangle |
| ColorYellow background, black circular arrow symbol and border | ColorBlack background, white chevrons and border |
| What it meansA circulating intersection is coming up. | What it meansCirculate around the central island in the direction the chevrons point. |
What does the permit test ask about the Circular Intersection (Roundabout Ahead) sign?
These 2 questions are from the practice bank, with the answer marked.
This sign warns of:
- A.A traffic circle or roundabout ahead(correct answer)
- B.A curve to the right
- C.A cul-de-sac
- D.A U-turn lane ahead
Source: MUTCD W2-6
When entering a roundabout in the United States you yield to:
- A.Traffic waiting to enter
- B.Traffic already circulating, approaching from your left(correct answer)
- C.Traffic approaching from your right
- D.Nobody, roundabouts are uncontrolled
Why: US roundabouts run counterclockwise, so circulating traffic reaches you from the left. Yield to it, enter in a gap, and signal right as you leave.
Source: Federal MUTCD, 11th Edition (FHWA)
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.