What does the Distance sign mean?
The Distance sign (MUTCD D2-1, D2-2, D2-3) is a guide sign under the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the national standard the states build from. It lists upcoming places and how many miles away they are.
Source: MUTCD 11th Edition (FHWA), checked 2026-09-09.
What shape and color is the Distance sign?
| MUTCD code | D2-1, D2-2, D2-3 |
|---|---|
| Group | Guide and service signs |
| Shape | Horizontal rectangle |
| Color | Green background, white legend and border |
What a horizontal rectangle means. Usually guidance: direction, distance and destination. Also used for some regulatory plaques mounted under another sign.
What green means. Permitted movements, direction, distance and destination guidance.
Guide and service signs. Direction, services, recreation: three colors doing three jobs, and not one of them carrying a duty. Work out which job the color does and most questions in this group answer themselves.
What is the Distance sign often mistaken for?
Destination signs (D1 series).
|  |
|---|---|
| GroupGuide and service signs | GroupGuide and service signs |
| ShapeHorizontal rectangle | ShapeHorizontal rectangle |
| ColorGreen background, white legend and border | ColorGreen background, white legend, arrow and border |
| What it meansLists upcoming places and how many miles away they are. | What it meansNames the places reached by the route and the direction to take. |
What are the other guide and service signs?
All 11 guide and service 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.