All over the world in 2020 school traffic stopped and not just in the crosswalks. Now buses are creeping back to school, kids are in the crosswalks again, and our minds at OIC have moved from online education to the lines on school zone signs in different cultures.

Sign designers have the challenge of a small canvas driven by the need for clarity and by endless government guidelines on color, shape, and messaging. Road sign specs in the US government manual alone amount to 862 pages, and most other countries also make the effort to standardize. Still, while school zone signs and other road signs are a labor of uniformity and full of constraints, they show more about different cultures than you might think.

Fashion Statements?

In the USA, the yellow-green fluorescent background of the school zone sign sets off the beauty of basic black outfits. And the accessory—is it a stylish clutch? A book? Or the homework that the dog didn’t eat? No matter, with something in hand as a visual cue, we know the kids are surely on their way to school.

In such a small space, it’s the visual cue that distinguishes the school zone crossing from other pedestrian signage. In Japan, for example, one cue on school zone signs is the monochromatic equivalent of the brightly-colored caps school children wear to avoid traffic accidents.

While times have changed in Japan and more casual dress is allowed in elementary schools, the traditional uniform of short pants for young boys and pleated skirts for young girls still make the school statement— if not for fashion, at least for clarity.

School sign fashion is slow to change. Who would want to rewrite all those regulations to keep up with the trends? Or replace and recycle the millions of school signs around the world? But why must all the girls on school signs wear skirts? Clearly NOT a sign of the times, and neither are the bows.

At least in Valencia, Spain, there’s a nod to a more modern accoutrement (and the weight of textbooks) via the much more practical backpack.

Look, Ma! No Hands!

Yes, school zone signs have style from the realistic to the graphically simplistic. On the realistic side—In New Zealand, the school children have discernible hands and feet. Also in Zimbabwe and in Ecuador, where even the heels on the shoes show.

Denmark, however, believes in no frills: no hands, no feet, no discernible clothes, no coifs. Just get attention with a bright red border and get the point across. Still, with the no-hands approach, don’t you wonder why those ever-present books aren’t falling to the ground?

Like Denmark, Italy and Spain rely on the same red-and-white attention grabbers. The figures, though, exude enthusiasm—kids running to class with no feet and swinging books with no hands. So eager to learn! But—yikes!—what about the two who lost their heads?

Who Leads?

Take a look back at the signs so far. Almost all show two figures. A designer in each country had to decide which one would lead. And, despite the female stereotypes of dress that seem to grace school signs around the world, it’s often the girl who leads. Sometimes out front, sometimes from behind, and sometimes with real intention and confidence. Is this sign a sign of the times before the times had come or a sign that the times took time to notice that girls are leaders, too?

On some school zone signs, a parent shows up, taking the lead. This sign from Greece offers a bit of a father-and-daughter dance, maybe even a tug to get a reluctant kid going.

And sometimes, the signs show just kids all on their own and in a rush to get to school. No reluctance for this guy in India!

Right now, there’s little reluctance in family homes around the world after many COVID months at home. The enthusiastic “running to school” signs, may not be part of the culture where you live, but they capture our current feelings completely.

And when it comes to who leads, it doesn’t matter if it’s the girl or the boy on the school zone sign. But it does matter that leaders around the world and in every community get “in the zone,” that they show up to sense the strength of our feelings and pave the way for a safe return to school.

Just like the school zone signs in different cultures, the details and the student portrayals will vary, but every culture will find its way back to school, leaving its unique mark. And that’s a good sign.