What does the One Way (arrow) sign mean?
The One Way (arrow) sign (MUTCD R6-1) is a regulatory sign under the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the national standard the states build from. One direction of travel is permitted, the one the arrow points. Anything coming the other way is in the wrong, and so are you the moment you turn in against it.
Source: MUTCD 11th Edition, Chapter 2B, Table 2B-1, checked 2026-09-09.
What shape and color is the One Way (arrow) sign?
| MUTCD code | R6-1 |
|---|---|
| Group | Regulatory signs |
| Shape | Horizontal rectangle |
| Color | Black background, white legend and arrow |
What a horizontal rectangle means. Usually guidance: direction, distance and destination. Also used for some regulatory plaques mounted under another sign. 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 black means. Used with white for regulatory signs where the legend needs to dominate, such as ONE WAY.
Regulatory signs. Every sign in this group has a statute behind it, so disobeying one is a citable offense on its own. Permit tests tend to word them as a duty you owe rather than show you the face.
What is the One Way (arrow) sign often mistaken for?
The vertical One Way sign (R6-2) and the Divided Highway Crossing sign (R6-3). Black-on-white with an arrow is regulatory one-way; a yellow diamond with a divided-road symbol is a warning.
|  |  |
|---|---|---|
| GroupRegulatory signs | GroupRegulatory signs | GroupRegulatory signs |
| ShapeHorizontal rectangle | ShapeVertical rectangle | ShapeHorizontal rectangle |
| ColorBlack background, white legend and arrow | ColorBlack background, white legend and arrow | ColorWhite background, black legend and symbol |
| What it meansOne direction of travel is permitted, the one the arrow points. | What it meansSame rule as R6-1, mounted to be read from the cross street: the roadway it faces takes traffic one way, and the arrow says which. | What it meansCrossing or turning here, keep the median on your left and use the right-hand roadway. |
Which signs get mistaken for the One Way (arrow) sign?
Two-Way TrafficW6-3One Way (R6-1) reversed in the mind, and the Two-Direction Large Arrow (W1-7). W6-3 warns of oncoming traffic in the next lane.
What are the other regulatory signs?
All 39 regulatory 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.