Road signs in Greece, are regulated by the Ministry of Transport and the Hellenic Traffic Police, according to the GreekHighway Code. Signs follow the general European conventions concerning the use of shape and colour, for every sign category. Signs indicating dangers are triangular with a red border, those giving orders are almost all circular, and those providing information are rectangular. Most signs use pictograms to convey their particular meaning. As is customary in European countries, all signs are partly or fully reflectorized or are provided with their own night-time illumination. Signs used for temporary regulations may have a yellow background colour. Greek road signs depict people with realistic silhouettes. Also, all signs are identified by a Greece capital letter and a number. Signs that indicate the same meaning but in a different direction have the same letter and number but are separated by a lowercase
History
The history of road signaling in Greece dates back to Antiquity. The first road signaling included marble columns with the head of Hermes, protector of the wayfarers. Those signs were known known as "ἑρμαῖ". There were also milestones for measuring street length in stadions. Similar columns were also used in Roman times, but had miles as a unit of measurement. Shortly after Greece's independence in 1836, an order was issued to place the first road signs in Greece. They were stone carved signs with distances between cities according to the metric system that was in force at the time. The first road signage on Greek roads with contemporary signs was made in 1924 by ELPA, which took over the road network's signage until 1957, when it was taken over by the state. The signs were subject to the provisions of the Geneva Protocol on Road Signs and Signals. On July 25, 1962, and with Government Gazette A '110/62, it was announced in paragraph 1 of Article 14 that "by joint decisions, issued by the Ministers of Transport, Public Works and Interior, all matters relating to the road signs, roadmarkings, the type of signals, the characteristics of the road signage and the manner of its application shall be defined. ", while in paragraph 2 of the same article that "the provisions of the InternationalGeneva Protocol on Road Signs and Signals of September 1949, with its supplements, are temporarily valid and up-to the apply of the referenced of the paragraph 1 of this Article. " Finally, on July 6, 1974, 12 years after the initial announcements and with the Government Gazette B '676/74, the first serious signaling standards were established, which are still valid today. It was the first time that sign diagrams were included in a Government Gazette. Since the publication of the relevant Government Gazette, the "provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 14 of Law 4332/62 "on the ratification of the Road Trafffic Code" have been abolished. However", within five years of its publication, six of the old signs from the Geneva Protocol were still valid, as "temporarily preserved signs".
Design
Fonts
The font on the signs since 1974 is Transport, which also appears on the signs of other European countries. On motorways, the DIN 1451 font is used.
Language
The signs in Greece are in two languages: Greek and English. Previously, the signs were in Katharevousa and used the Polytonic system, until 1976 and 1981, which were replaced by the Demotic and Monotonic systems respectively.
Retroreflection
Signs during the night are either:
Internally illuminated: that is, of suitable translucent materials, illuminated by internal illumination systems. The application of these signs is restricted mainly to urban areas and to specific high-risk interurban networks.
Externally illuminated: that is, they are illuminated by lamps facing them. These signs are applied at places where the light beam of cars is difficult to reach, such as the road sign gantries.
With reflective materials: that is, part or all of which is of a suitable reflective film. They may not be reflective, semi-reflective or fully reflective
Finally, there are fluorescent reflective membranes, used in special circumstances, as a backdrop for school signs or signs indicating significant hazards.
Post-1974 signs
Categorization
They are divided into certain categories based on their meaning, shape and coloring.
Danger Notice .
Traffic Regulatory .
Informatory .
Οδοδείκτες , these are signs with text that guide drivers to the directions they at intersections between roads or warn before they confirm the correctness of the route they follow and inform them of the distances from their destination.
Other informatory signs, are signs that contain pictograms that inform drivers of the existence of a specific installation or service in the course of their journey.
The color of the letters is yellow, in Greek and white in Latin. Background color indicates the kind of direction. These colors are:
White inside populated areas or facilities in them.
Additional . These signs are rectangular with a black border on a white background with a black pictogram and are always combined with other road signs. They are designed to:
Make the message displayed clearer
Specify the displayed message
Additional signs are never used by themselves.
Danger notice signs (K series)
The K series includes the waring signs. These signs have mostly triangular shape. Their borders are red and their background is yellow. They are intended to alert drivers early on of risks, which they can find in their course. In total, there are 50 such signs.
Regulatory signs{{Cite news|url=https://www.glavopoulos.com/el/kok-p/|title=ΚΟΚ On-line: Πινακίδες Ρυθμιστικές της Κυκλοφορίας Glavopoulos Loss Adjusters Inc.|work=Glavopoulos Loss Adjusters Inc.|language=el-GR|accessdate=2018-11-21}}
Prohibitory signs are round with white backgrounds and red borders.
