What does the Roundabout Directional sign mean?
The Roundabout Directional sign (MUTCD R6-4, R6-4a, R6-4b) is a regulatory sign under the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the national standard the states build from. Circulate around the central island in the direction the chevrons point.
Source: MUTCD 11th Edition, Chapter 2B, Table 2B-1, checked 2026-09-09.
What shape and color is the Roundabout Directional sign?
| MUTCD code | R6-4, R6-4a, R6-4b |
|---|---|
| Group | Regulatory signs |
| Shape | Horizontal rectangle |
| Color | Black background, white chevrons and border |
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 Roundabout Directional sign often mistaken for?
The Chevron Alignment sign (W1-8), which is yellow with a single black chevron and marks a curve. Black-and-white chevrons at a roundabout are regulatory.
|  |
|---|---|
| GroupRegulatory signs | GroupWarning signs |
| ShapeHorizontal rectangle | ShapeVertical rectangle |
| ColorBlack background, white chevrons and border | ColorYellow background, black chevron and border |
| What it meansCirculate around the central island in the direction the chevrons point. | What it meansMarks the direction of the curve; several are placed through the bend so one is always in view. |
Which signs get mistaken for the Roundabout Directional sign?
Circular Intersection (Roundabout Ahead)W2-6The black-and-white roundabout directional sign (R6-4) at the island itself, and the ROUNDABOUT plaque (W16-12aP) which is text, not a symbol.
What does the permit test ask about the Roundabout Directional sign?
This question is from the practice bank, with the answer marked.
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 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.