Road signs in Latvia

Road signs in Latvia ensure that transport vehicles move safely and orderly, as well as to inform the participants of traffic built-in graphic icons. These icons are governed by the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic and Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals. The system is covered in Ceļu satiksmes noteikumi[1] and the standards documents LVS 77–1:2016 "Ceļa zīmes. 1. daļa: Ceļa zīmes", LVS 77-2:2016 "Ceļa zīmes. 2. daļa: Uzstādīšanas noteikumi" and LVS 77-3:2016 "Ceļa zīmes. 3. daļa: Tehniskās prasības".[2]

A sign for pedestrian crossing

During the 1920s and 1930s, Latvia had developed various road signs, but after Latvia was occupied and later annexed by the Soviet Union during the World War II, it used the Soviet road sign standard before adopting its own. In 1980, the last standard for road signs GOST 10807-78 (ГОСТ 10807-78) was adopted in the Soviet Union before its dissolution in 1991.[3] After the restoration of the independence of Latvia in 1990, it became necessary to create its own standard for road signs in Latvia. Unlike most post-Soviet states, modern road signs in Latvia look different from those used in neighbouring Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania. Latvian road signs use the DIN 1451 typeface.[4]

The text used on signs is in the state language, Latvian. Recently, some signs have been introduced with Latvian supplemented by Livonian and Latgalian. In November 2021, the first standard-compliant road sign with Latgalian was placed on the border of Balvi Municipality, with others being gradually installed in other locations in Latgale.[5] In January 2023, the first of 171 approved signs with Livonian text were placed on the border of Talsi Municipality, with others expected to be placed in villages along the Livonian Coast.[6][7]