Wikipedia

Town sign

Atown signorcity limit signis aroad signplaced at the side of the road or street at theboundaryof the territory of acity,town,orvillage.Town signs may be placed for reading both by drivers entering the town and, in a different format, by those exiting it. Signs give the name of the town in the localofficial languages,and sometimes in other languages. In some countries, town signs are also an essential part of the traffic law, for example by defining (explicitly or implicitly) thespeed limitwithin the town's territory.

By country

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In some countries, such asGermanyandAustria,signs aren't placed at the exact boundary of a city or town, but rather at the location where the settlement'sbuilt-up area(continuous string of buildings/development) begins and ends.

Austria

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On September 6, 1994, Austrian lawyer Rudi Vouk (ofSlovenianancestry) drove faster than the speed limit of 50 kilometers per hour while driving throughSt. Kanzian,also known asŠkocjan[disambiguation needed].[1]In the court case that followed, Vouk refused to pay thespeeding ticket,arguing that the monolingual sign was unconstitutional.[1]

In December 2006, theConstitutional Court of Austriafound that city limit signs had to be bilingual.[2]The facts of the case were that the district authority ofVölkermarkt Districthad ordered signs for the city limits ofBleiburg,Ebersdorf,andSchwabeggto be put up only in German.[2]After this was found to be unconstitutional, the signs were also put up inSlovenian,but smaller; the court found that this too was unconstitutional.[2]

As of 2010, the issue of bilingual city signs in Austria has not been resolved.[1]

United Kingdom

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In theUnited Kingdom,town signmay refer to a prominent, decorative, often carved sign, commemorating the values and history of the town. Synonymous withVillage sign;Commonly in the centre of the town.

United States

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In much of theUnited States,there is a similarcounty signat the boundary between each county (orindependent citynot part of one), indicating the county being entered and often the one being left. Even if not done within a givenU.S. state,there is also nearly always a welcome sign at the state line on every major highway, and most any other road. The welcome signs onInterstate highwaysare usually very large and havegraphics,and may have an attached text-only sign directing motorists to thewelcome centerat arest area.On smaller roads, they are usually more similar to town signs, showing the state and county, often with other signs indicatingspeed limit,a state law (such as "burn headlights during rain" ), and/or a change intime zone.

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In the filmIt's a Wonderful Life,directed byFrank Capra,a town-limit sign reading "You are now in Bedford Falls" appears. However, the pronoun "you" is deliberately left ambiguous.[3]: 16 

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toCity limit signs.

References

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  1. ^abcKetteman, Matthias C. (2010)."How to Implement Controversial Court Decisions: International Constitutional Lessons from Brown v. Board of Education for the Austrian Cases on Topographical Signs in Carinthia".Vienna Online Journal on International Constitutional Law.4(4): 590–623 – via heinonline.org.
  2. ^abcKlingenbrunner, Alexander (13 December 2006)."Bilingual Topography: Differences between German and Slovenian Place Names In Size are Unconstitutional".Vienna Online Journal on International Constitutional Law.2(2): 146–148 – via heinonline.org.
  3. ^Bal, Mieke (2004).Narrative Theory: Political narratology.Taylor & Francis.ISBN978-0-415-31660-6.
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