Standardized Wayfinding Symbols - JessicaOPRD/docs GitHub Wiki

Symbol Signs by AIGA with USDOT

Original public domain set of transportation wayfinding icons. AIGA and USDOT collaborated to create the icons in the 1970s. The first 36 icons were released in 1974. The final 16 were released in 1979. The most well-known symbols from the set are probably the restroom symbols. AIGA/USDOT have not updated these icons since 1979.

Society for Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD) Libraries

From the 1980s onward SEGD has maintained the recreational icons (originally developed beginning in 1983 by Meeker & Associates in collaboration with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and National Park Service). You can view and download SEGD's maintained icons (also public domain):

• Transportation — AIGA/USDOT set
• Recreation
• Accessibility

There has been much debate in the design and accessibility communities about the "International Symbol of Accessibility." See International Symbol of Access: the Challenge of Updating an Icon.

National Park Service Symbols

According to NPS, their modern symbols are derived from a "symbol foundry" called Ultimate Symbol. Were the originals lost? Did designers associated with Ultimate Symbol expand the existing sets?

• Map Symbols & Patterns for NPS Maps — Print use
• National Park Service Symbol Library — Digital use