Since the original ranking had more than a few errors, here's the better, updated version: 1. South Carolina 2. Minnesota 3. New Mexico 4. Colorado 5. Old North Dakota 6. Alaska 7. Kansas 8. Florida 9. South Dakota 10. Idaho 11. Oklahoma 12. Washington 13. Michigan 14. Nebraska 15. New Hampshire 16. Arkansas 17. Ohio 18. Utah 19. New North Dakota 20. Alabama 21. Vermont 22. Pennsylvania 23. Nevada 24. Georgia 25. Louisiana 26. Wyoming 27. New York 28. Missouri 29. Wisconsin 30. Tennessee Label 31. Arizona 32. North Carolina 33. Hawaii 34. Tennessee Triangle 35. California 36. Rhode Island 37. Maryland 38. Oregon 39. Virginia 40. Indiana 41. Illinois 42. Montana 43. West Virginia 44. Texas 45. Connecticut 46. Maine 47. Massachusetts 48. Delaware 49. Iowa 50. Mississippi 51. New Jersey 52. Kentucky
California's state route shield references the California Gold Rush! Its shape mimics the spade carried by Forty-Niners into the foothills and sold by the opportunistic merchants who made the real fortunes of the California Gold Rush. Kansas's state route shield is a sunflower as Kansas is the Sunflower State! Pennsylvania's state route shield is a keystone because it's the Keystone State! A keystone refers to the central, wedge-shaped stone in an arch, which holds all the other stones in place, and PA is called the Keystone State because of its essential role in founding the US! Nebraska's state route shield used to be a diamond, but the oxen-and-wagon was designed by Robert L. Cochran who was the 24th governor of Nebraska from 1935 to 1941, and it later became the official state symbol! New Mexico's state shield design is based off the Zia sun symbol which is also on the state flag! The Zia regard the Sun as sacred. Their solar symbol is painted on ceremonial vases, drawn on the ground around campfires, and used to introduce newborns to the Sun. Four is the sacred number of the Zia and can be found repeated in the four points radiating from the circle. The number four is embodied in the four points of the compass, the four seasons, the four periods of each day (morning, noon, evening, and night), the four seasons of life (childhood, youth, middle years, and old age), and the four sacred obligations one must develop (a strong body, a clear mind, a pure spirit, and a devotion to the welfare of others), according to Zia belief. New Mexico's state capitol is unique in that it has a circular design, designed so it resembled the Zia sun symbol when viewed from above!
Wasn't mentioned here since it's a territory, but the Guamanian route marker is in the shape of a Chamorro sling stone which was used as a weapon for warfare and hunting, quarried from basalt and coral. It's also on the Guamanian flag as Guam's seal! New Hampshire's state route shield is the Old Man of the Mountain (or Great Stone Face by the Abenaki) which collapsed in 2003. There's an interesting Abenaki legend about the former face that the mountain formed: A human named Nis Kizos was born during an eclipse. He became a good leader and provider for his community. Nis Kizos was successful enough to attend Kchi Mahadan, a great gathering of other communities to trade. Tarlo, an Iroquois, returned with him. They fell in love. Tarlo had to return to her birth village because its people had been struck by a sickness. Nis Kizos promised he would live at the top of the mountain. By day he would look out for her, and at night he would light a fire to guide her back. With winter fast approaching, the elders sent Nis Kizos's brother Gezosa to bring him back. He was unsuccessful because Nis Kizos maintained his promise. Tarlo died in her birth village of sickness. After the winter, Gezosa went back up the mountain to bring the news of Tarlo and retrieve Nis Kizos. He found no signs of the existence of Nis Kizos and was stricken with sadness. On his way back down the mountain he looked back and found Nis Kizos had become part of the mountain as a stone face to look after the land. So when the face fell in 2003, you could say he finally was re-united with Tarlo. A memorial was built at the base in 2020 where a series of steel profiler rods were sculpted and when someone sights along the edge of one of the rods, the face is recreated.
Don’t be hatin’ on Pennsylvania’s classic keystone - it’s a classic & unique shape, and better than many of the boring/weird shapes of other states. You didn’t even say keystone.
If you ask me, he hates most of them no matter the shape or what the shield represents. He's like the Secretary Bird from the Bridge in the Menagerie stories: "he hates everyone, though he hates some more than others."
I'm glad you asked about NH's state highway shield. I grew up in Massachusetts, but NH was only a stone's throw away from my hometown, so my family would go there a lot to go shopping (and avoid MA's state sales tax). So, one of NH's mountains used to have a formation on the side of it that looked kind of like a man's face in profile, called "Old Man of the Mountain". The rock formation sadly collapsed many years ago, but it continues to be a symbol of the state. The state highway shield uses that symbol.
Pennsylvania is the only state to use the state nickname for a unique design that is easily recognized at a glance and that gets ignored? Sorry but you get a failing grade for that alone.
Wisconsin's shape being a rectangle with superimposed triangle is a nod to the fact that Wisconsin is the first State to number its State routes, which it did with an inverse triangle.
In 2016, North Dakota did changed its state route sign from the Indian head with number(s) to its own state with white North Dakota with numbers in black background.
And you still see both being used today as old stock is used up. That being said, the only ones who like the new ones are the politicians and sign companies, I don't recall anyone saying anything good about the new rectangle compared to the War Bonnet design that was based on Red Tomahawk, that ND has used forever.
@@J-1410 Grew up there. LOVE the old design. As mentioned, it is a good unique design. State name some counties and a number towns (including my hometown) all bear Native American names. I think it was a graet representation. But PC woke politicians always have to have something up their butt.....
New Hampshire's depicts "The Old Man of the Mountain," a famous rock formation. It is also depicted on their state quarter. Sadly, it collapsed a few years ago.
Being from Minnesota I always was excited to see other states shields when I grow up assuming they would more-or-less be on the same level. It was unfortunate to learn that most states don't really care about theirs
California actually stands out more than all the rest since the green spade is actually a cut-out, as opposed to being on a square sign-their US shields are also cut-outs, with the letters US on top.
4:55 It’s called the Old Man of the Mountain. It was a famous rock formation on a mountain side in the shape of a human head. It collapsed to the ground in 2003 but remains a beloved icon of the state of New Hampshire. They put it on everything.
Minnesota: *Uses state outline and name as a header, then has the number* LE: "This is Amazing! 2nd best in the country!" Tennessee: *Uses state outline and name as a footer, then has the number* LE: "This is bad" Bro what
@@PhrugalPhanthe Minnesota one looks good. Yours does not….. there’s a difference. Colors, the font of the text, and grainy outline of the state. Don’t complain about his ranking bc there is a night and day difference between the two. Minnesotas is clearly better than yours. (Before you say I’m defending my state and I’m bias, I don’t live in Minnesota, I live in South Carolina
@@Sponsermebojangles My state? Ehh??? I was raised in one state, live in another, neither TN. This was a general criticism overall, with the MN / TN disparity showing. An outline / shape on the sign should quickly and easily indicate the state. NY, PA, and UT are great examples.
@@PhrugalPhan despite you not living in Tennessee, look at the rankings. he ranked it really high and I think that you should look at it because it’ll make your first take look stupid
As a MN resident I think the Minnesota route sign resembles the Interstate sign in a way, just with the blue and gold of the outgoing flag. Also when I was driving in Wisconsin for the first time seeing family I found the difference in design between the state route shield and the US route shield was super confusing
The NC diamond shield also originally had the intertwining University of North Carolina logo above the number. This was back when it was only a cutout shield only.
1:33 ... the bare minimum would be the circle signs since those are the standard defined in the MUTCD (11th edition, Figure 2D-4, M1-5) though states are allowed to change it as they wish. Some historic state route shields are worth a look (also some not so much), and some remnants are still in present design such as Oregon, Penna., NY and Virginia. IA, IL and IN featured the respective state shapes. Arizona state route signs had to be changed around WW2 due to reasons. And at there was a trail/route in Illinois that had the same symbol before the governments decided to number routes instead of name them.
4:55 "i cant really tell what this is supposed to be" buckle up lemme tell you about the old man of the mountain... in new hampshire up in the white mountains there used to be a rock formation that looked a lot like an old man... it was something of a local icon. it fell in 2003 and nobody has gotten over it since. it's the state symbol... its still everywhere. im not even kidding NOBODY has gotten over it a state rep literally compared it to 9/11
The “guitar pick” is just supposed to be an upside down triangle but the corners have been rounded over the years. And they once had “TENN” underneath the number. The Tennessee Primary shield was introduced in 1983, and the original font of the word Tennessee was Helvetica. Lately there has been no consistency whatsoever with the font used, and it drives me bonkers! Another fun fact: Mississippi also once used the same upside down triangle as Tennessee but switched to the circle at some point in the 1970’s. They also put “MISS” underneath the number, but vertically.
I’m from Massachusetts. The state was very lazy choosing a simple rectangle for state routes. Maine copied us, while CT just uses a thicker black outline and RI just adds its state abbreviation to the shield. Kudos to NH and VT for going with something unique.
3:23 : "What is it with you New England states all opting for a square design?" In the early to mid 1900s, New England used the New England road marking system. It was kind of like a mini-interstate system, in the sense that route numbers were consistent within the region. That old system used this square design. It isn't confusing for drivers in the area because the numbers stay the same. When MA-28 crosses the border into NH, it becomes NH-28. CT-8, MA-8, and VT-8 all connect end-to-end, and so. It's very intuitive.
New York's is often confused for the US route marker. Both on maps, and sometimes in practice on actual state highways (US routes with NYS shields and NYS routes with US shields can be found). Seems NYSDOT's cluelessness extends well beyond traffic signal design. Another fun fact is that the New England states predominantly share state route numbering as well as their nearly identical signage.
With exceptions, New England states share route numbering with NYS. The exceptions: Massachusetts does not have state routes higher than 295, so NY 344 ends at the NY/MA state line; Connecticut's highest signed state route is 372, so NY 433 ends at the NY/CT state line; MA 102 ends at the MA/NY state line but continues as the short unsigned NY Reference Route 980D; NY 7 and VT 9 interchange numbers because both states have corresponding US numbers in their respective states. It's funny that there is NY 2, an extension of MA 2, and the VERY short US 2 in Rouses Point.
@@edwardrasmussen3465 I was going to mention the NYS/New England commonality but I didn't know how formal it was. Having lived in New England for a short time (and working for a state DOT) I was aware that the common numbering was the result of an actual formal agreement of some kind although I've long since forgotten the specifics. I wasn't aware of such a thing with NYS or if it's just a courtesy. I've always seen Eastern NYS (at least east of the Hudson) as basically a 7th New England state so it makes sense. Funny that it never occurred to me that NYS has both US and NY routes 2. And I've driven both several times!
Honestly, I think that Oregon's State Shield is a more rounded version of Virginia's. Also, you saying NC's State Highway Shield being a "Chinese Knockoff" of Michigan's had me 🤣
Growing up in Michigan, we call our state highways M-xx. I used to almost believe every state did that (found out only Kansas is the other one who uses their state's initial before the route number, like K-xx), and I often called other state highways accordingly for fun, like Ohio was O-xx, and the one that drives my native Californian friend crazy, C-xx. (She also gets annoyed when I don't call freeways "The xx", no matter what kind of road it is.)
Tennessee has two designs. The Tenn label is for primary state routes. Tenn triangle is for secondary state routes. I believe it is intended to represent the three grand divisions of the state: East, Middle, West. The design for New Hampshire is the old man of the mountain which is a state symbol. My top 5: South Carolina, Colorado, New Mexico, Minnesota, Kansas and honorable mention to Vermont.
Ahh yes. Wyoming State Route 59. Driven it many times. South of Gillette, it's all fun and games. North of Gillette is no-man's land that's infested with deer, road shoulders don't exist, and having cell service is a distant dream.
Shown are the shields of the primary route in many but not all states. Many states have a different shield design for their county, local, or municipal routes. One such in particular is a blue background pentagon shield, which is in use in Alabama, Florida, and New Jersey and maybe others. County name is on top with the route number in large font in the middle, and the word county below the number.
Arizona used to have a swastika (Native American symbol). They had to change all the signs during World War 2, even though there was metal rationing going on. California is supposed to represent the shovels that Gold Rush prospectors used. (Don't know what Hawaii's represents.) Kansas is s sunflower (state flower). Michigan calls all their state highways "M-xx." You can always tell a newbie if they say something like "State Highway 28" or "SR 28" instead of "M-28." New Hampshire represents The Old Man of the Mountain, a stone edifice that collapsed in 2003. New York represents the common shape of tavern and inn signs that you might have encountered along rural NY roads in the 18th and 19th century. Oregon has a teardrop shape that represents the state shield. The original design included an inner frame with an eagle perched on top of it and "Oregon" under the perch. Pennsylvania's nickname is the Keystone State, so that's a keystone. Washington should emulate South Dakota and add a green border since the state nickname is the Evergreen State. Wisconsin was originally a two-piece design -- a rectangle with the route number mounted over a triangle with "Wisconsin" at the top.
I see you have a good ranking! 2 things I wanna say is that you used the wrong Idaho shield and New Hampshire's shield is of the now gone Old Man of the Mountain.
Double Whoops! I was up late when I wrote the script weeks ago, so if I had to guess, I meant to say North Dakota instead of Nebraska! THAT, however brings up the fact that I left Nebraska out of the ranking (Which, if I were to put it somewhere, it would be after Nevada).
Massachusetts and Maine use the same shield. Connecticut, while also square, occasionally shares signage with Massachusetts. Since the fonts used in the two states are different, one can tell which state borrowed the other state's sign; especially in western MA! Vermont has two shields: the one shown, green being a nod to its nickname The Green Mountain State, and the circle truncated off the top and bottom, and the word Vermont on top, denotes state highways, while the circle (same as several other states), the former shield design before the current green design, denotes municipality-maintained routes. For an extreme example of the latter, see the Vermont Route 58 entry in Wikipedia.
Oklahoma has only been using the state shape for a decade or so. Previously they used the circle. Virginia and West Virginia use the circle for secondary routes. Louisiana's shields formerly had a green state on a white background, and a few of those shields are still in use. The Texas highway system includes loops, spurs and park roads using the same square as the primary highways, along with NASA 1 leading to the Johnson Space Center in Houston. TXDOT-owned toll roads have the route number in blue, along with the Texas flag and "TOLL" on a blue background in the bottom. Toll road agencies in Austin, Dallas and Houston have their own shields.
@gregsells8549-Many of West Virginia's secondary route shields have a fraction-like appearance with the road number on top and the beginning or terminus route number on the bottom.
This is the most bothered anyone has ever been by a state route sign when they didn't take a wrong turn. Also Michigan copied North Carolina not the other way around.
Yes the old SC shield was basically the same as the RI shield. They started changing out most of the SC shields right before I moved there, so fortunately for me I haven’t been forced to experience the boring shields on a regular basis!
Too harsh on some of the outlines. Wisconsin's is a design that goes back about a century. It's a classic. You are right about SC and MN. They have fantastic designs. I love MN's so much, I made mockups of what that sort of design would look like for my home state, which is also Illinois.
Massachusetts shield: F- Massachusetts state song: ??? Massachusetts Flag: A- I know it's a state seal in the middle but the seal is a unique, colorful, and easily recognizable design more like a coat of arms, and the background is white which is unique among the states.
I suspect that the New England states all use the same highway sign because our highway system was created as a regional network rather than six state networks. So I’d take that into account
The old Texas route shield used until the 1940s was much better than today's. A circular sign featuring the Star of Texas with the route number overlaid in a small inner circle. See Texas State Highway 2 for the example.
There are so many designs with a white shape on a black background because that's exactly what the Federal Highway Administrations says state route shields are supposed to look like. "Guidance: State Route signs (see Figure 2D-4) should be rectangular and should be approximately the same size as the U.S. Route sign. State Route signs should also be similar to the U.S. Route sign by containing approximately the same size black numerals on a white area surrounded by a rectangular black background without a border, and should be devoid of complex graphics. The shape of the white area should be circular in the absence of any determination to the contrary by the individual State concerned." MUTCD 11th edition, page 258 I actually dislike some of the busier and more colorful state route deigns for this reason. The basic white rectangles are still pretty indefensible to me though, and while the default circle design is actually pretty okay, too many states use it and should come up with a more unique design.
It should be #1 but he was too embarrassed to include it in the list at the end. The profile of George Washington speaks to the excellence of the Evergreen State.
I am shocked, SHOCKED! That texas did not take the opportunity to put their state shape on their highway shields. They are quite literally the state that does the thing in the shape of our state most proliferately.
You underrated New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. New York has a unique design, and I associate that with the State's nicknsme, the Empire State. Pennsylvania uses a Keystone, also for its nickname, the Keystone State. They pickef something memorable and unique to them. Virginia has a unique shape. No other state has that shape. If you look at it carefully, you'll see a rounded V, for Virginia.
The squares are really just the shield design version of seal on bedsheet design. Can say when I moved from Texas here to Kansas last year(admittedly, Texans have FM roads so don't drive on true state routes that often) that the sunflower design stuck out a lot and os easier to see at a distance, i.e. when driving. It's a good thing Google Maps exists.
New Mexico has the best route shield. South Carolina and Minnesota can battle each other for second place with the loser taking 3rd. Kansas and Utah - solidly a tie for fourth place. Texas gets last place EXCEPT our FM/RM shields get solid 5th. All the non-standard state outlines get sixth. All the normal state outlines (Missouri, Alabama, etc.) get 7th. Circles and diamonds come in 8th. Weird Shapes (Pennsylvania, California) get 9th And as I said before, Squares with or without the state name all get last place. After writing all of that, I forgot about Alaska and Wyoming, they would be placed with the “weird shapes” group. Now why does Texas’ Farm to Market roads get to be 5th? They’re just a state outline… well they’d actually qualify as “non-standard state outlines” aka 6th BUT it’s Texas. Texas is better than rest of the states, so it gets bumped up a little.
llinois and Indiana used to have state shapes. Illinois' state-shape design ill fits numbers higher than "199". Indiana could get away with a state design by ocerlaying the boring top half of the state border or the boring eastern border.
I think you forgot New York in the ranking - middle of pack I would expect. Check out the Canadian province shields. They do a much better job than the US states.
Texas had very unique highway signs at first. It was a big lone star, surrounded by a circle. The number would be in the star, with 'state' 'highway' printed on the top and bottom of the circle, respectively.
All the states that use the white circle on the black background deserve to be in last because they're the laziest ones of all. That design is the default, so really it just means those states are the only ones who chose not to make their own. A real cop-out if you ask me.
Since the original ranking had more than a few errors, here's the better, updated version:
1. South Carolina
2. Minnesota
3. New Mexico
4. Colorado
5. Old North Dakota
6. Alaska
7. Kansas
8. Florida
9. South Dakota
10. Idaho
11. Oklahoma
12. Washington
13. Michigan
14. Nebraska
15. New Hampshire
16. Arkansas
17. Ohio
18. Utah
19. New North Dakota
20. Alabama
21. Vermont
22. Pennsylvania
23. Nevada
24. Georgia
25. Louisiana
26. Wyoming
27. New York
28. Missouri
29. Wisconsin
30. Tennessee Label
31. Arizona
32. North Carolina
33. Hawaii
34. Tennessee Triangle
35. California
36. Rhode Island
37. Maryland
38. Oregon
39. Virginia
40. Indiana
41. Illinois
42. Montana
43. West Virginia
44. Texas
45. Connecticut
46. Maine
47. Massachusetts
48. Delaware
49. Iowa
50. Mississippi
51. New Jersey
52. Kentucky
It's an outrage that you have Delaware ranked higher than Iowa!!!
It's an outrage that Maine outranks Massachusetts as they are the same sign. Don't you allow for ties?
Oregon's old shield is much better than its current one.
The fact that the word "keystone" wasn't said when Pennsylvania's was shown emotionally damaged me :(
As a Pennsylvanian, I agree
Oh yeah that's why I made the comment, because I'm from there too lol
i was just about to comment this i almost had a heart attack as a pennsylvanian
California's state route shield references the California Gold Rush! Its shape mimics the spade carried by Forty-Niners into the foothills and sold by the opportunistic merchants who made the real fortunes of the California Gold Rush. Kansas's state route shield is a sunflower as Kansas is the Sunflower State! Pennsylvania's state route shield is a keystone because it's the Keystone State! A keystone refers to the central, wedge-shaped stone in an arch, which holds all the other stones in place, and PA is called the Keystone State because of its essential role in founding the US! Nebraska's state route shield used to be a diamond, but the oxen-and-wagon was designed by Robert L. Cochran who was the 24th governor of Nebraska from 1935 to 1941, and it later became the official state symbol!
New Mexico's state shield design is based off the Zia sun symbol which is also on the state flag! The Zia regard the Sun as sacred. Their solar symbol is painted on ceremonial vases, drawn on the ground around campfires, and used to introduce newborns to the Sun. Four is the sacred number of the Zia and can be found repeated in the four points radiating from the circle. The number four is embodied in the four points of the compass, the four seasons, the four periods of each day (morning, noon, evening, and night), the four seasons of life (childhood, youth, middle years, and old age), and the four sacred obligations one must develop (a strong body, a clear mind, a pure spirit, and a devotion to the welfare of others), according to Zia belief. New Mexico's state capitol is unique in that it has a circular design, designed so it resembled the Zia sun symbol when viewed from above!
4:57 it was a famous landmark in New Hampshire because it looked like a face, but it collapsed in 2003
The “Old Man of the Mountain”, which formerly could be seen from the I-93 Franconia Notch Parkway section.
RIP the old man of the mountain
The Old Man of The Mountain was 10,000 years old when he collapsed.
Wasn't mentioned here since it's a territory, but the Guamanian route marker is in the shape of a Chamorro sling stone which was used as a weapon for warfare and hunting, quarried from basalt and coral. It's also on the Guamanian flag as Guam's seal! New Hampshire's state route shield is the Old Man of the Mountain (or Great Stone Face by the Abenaki) which collapsed in 2003. There's an interesting Abenaki legend about the former face that the mountain formed: A human named Nis Kizos was born during an eclipse. He became a good leader and provider for his community. Nis Kizos was successful enough to attend Kchi Mahadan, a great gathering of other communities to trade. Tarlo, an Iroquois, returned with him. They fell in love. Tarlo had to return to her birth village because its people had been struck by a sickness.
Nis Kizos promised he would live at the top of the mountain. By day he would look out for her, and at night he would light a fire to guide her back. With winter fast approaching, the elders sent Nis Kizos's brother Gezosa to bring him back. He was unsuccessful because Nis Kizos maintained his promise. Tarlo died in her birth village of sickness. After the winter, Gezosa went back up the mountain to bring the news of Tarlo and retrieve Nis Kizos. He found no signs of the existence of Nis Kizos and was stricken with sadness. On his way back down the mountain he looked back and found Nis Kizos had become part of the mountain as a stone face to look after the land. So when the face fell in 2003, you could say he finally was re-united with Tarlo. A memorial was built at the base in 2020 where a series of steel profiler rods were sculpted and when someone sights along the edge of one of the rods, the face is recreated.
WOW! That was way more than I knew about Old Man in the Mountain.
Don’t be hatin’ on Pennsylvania’s classic keystone - it’s a classic & unique shape, and better than many of the boring/weird shapes of other states. You didn’t even say keystone.
If you ask me, he hates most of them no matter the shape or what the shield represents. He's like the Secretary Bird from the Bridge in the Menagerie stories: "he hates everyone, though he hates some more than others."
I don't think this guy did enough homework to pick up on it.
I would have put it in the top 10 at least. They also use it on official paperwork and such.
@@swa5026 if you think about it, New York's shield is its official state seal, hence there's a relation between the Keystone shield and NY's shield.
As a lifelong New Jersian, it's certainly leagues above ours.
I'm glad you asked about NH's state highway shield. I grew up in Massachusetts, but NH was only a stone's throw away from my hometown, so my family would go there a lot to go shopping (and avoid MA's state sales tax). So, one of NH's mountains used to have a formation on the side of it that looked kind of like a man's face in profile, called "Old Man of the Mountain". The rock formation sadly collapsed many years ago, but it continues to be a symbol of the state. The state highway shield uses that symbol.
Texas FM shields have the state's outline.
Ditto with the related RM shields and the brown RE (for recreational, marked on the signs simply as R) shields.
Farm Roads tho
Yeah Texas took a huge L with that.
Pennsylvania is the only state to use the state nickname for a unique design that is easily recognized at a glance and that gets ignored? Sorry but you get a failing grade for that alone.
Kansas does that as well with its sunflower shield as it is The Sunflower State.
And Utah, because we're called the Beehive state
@@12baumarobi I was wondering about the Utah design. Thumbs up.
Wisconsin's shape being a rectangle with superimposed triangle is a nod to the fact that Wisconsin is the first State to number its State routes, which it did with an inverse triangle.
In 2016, North Dakota did changed its state route sign from the Indian head with number(s) to its own state with white North Dakota with numbers in black background.
And you still see both being used today as old stock is used up. That being said, the only ones who like the new ones are the politicians and sign companies, I don't recall anyone saying anything good about the new rectangle compared to the War Bonnet design that was based on Red Tomahawk, that ND has used forever.
@@J-1410 Grew up there. LOVE the old design. As mentioned, it is a good unique design. State name some counties and a number towns (including my hometown) all bear Native American names. I think it was a graet representation. But PC woke politicians always have to have something up their butt.....
New Hampshire's depicts "The Old Man of the Mountain," a famous rock formation. It is also depicted on their state quarter. Sadly, it collapsed a few years ago.
Being from Minnesota I always was excited to see other states shields when I grow up assuming they would more-or-less be on the same level. It was unfortunate to learn that most states don't really care about theirs
California actually stands out more than all the rest since the green spade is actually a cut-out, as opposed to being on a square sign-their US shields are also cut-outs, with the letters US on top.
The California shape is supposed to be a spade from the Gold Rush.
It should be gold coloured then. I personally think it looks iconic but that would be better.
4:55 It’s called the Old Man of the Mountain. It was a famous rock formation on a mountain side in the shape of a human head. It collapsed to the ground in 2003 but remains a beloved icon of the state of New Hampshire. They put it on everything.
PA should be higher since its shape references its nickname.
The PA one is the shape of a Keystone, a stone that used to be at the top of a fireplace in the middle. You can still see them on many arches.
The California state shield is actually a miner's spade in a nod to the Gold Rush era
Minnesota: *Uses state outline and name as a header, then has the number*
LE: "This is Amazing! 2nd best in the country!"
Tennessee: *Uses state outline and name as a footer, then has the number*
LE: "This is bad"
Bro what
Minnesota has color Tennessee is just black and white
@@AdamSmith-gs2dv my takeaway from this video is his idea is "color good, black and white bad". The video bored me actually.
@@PhrugalPhanthe Minnesota one looks good. Yours does not….. there’s a difference. Colors, the font of the text, and grainy outline of the state. Don’t complain about his ranking bc there is a night and day difference between the two. Minnesotas is clearly better than yours. (Before you say I’m defending my state and I’m bias, I don’t live in Minnesota, I live in South Carolina
@@Sponsermebojangles My state? Ehh??? I was raised in one state, live in another, neither TN. This was a general criticism overall, with the MN / TN disparity showing. An outline / shape on the sign should quickly and easily indicate the state. NY, PA, and UT are great examples.
@@PhrugalPhan despite you not living in Tennessee, look at the rankings. he ranked it really high and I think that you should look at it because it’ll make your first take look stupid
New Hampshire is the old man in the mountain RIP
As a MN resident I think the Minnesota route sign resembles the Interstate sign in a way, just with the blue and gold of the outgoing flag. Also when I was driving in Wisconsin for the first time seeing family I found the difference in design between the state route shield and the US route shield was super confusing
And to add, the M in the Michigan shield is the logo of the 2023-24 College football champs. (the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor)
The NC diamond shield also originally had the intertwining University of North Carolina logo above the number. This was back when it was only a cutout shield only.
2:58 The Kansas shield was supposed to resemble a sunflower which the state is known for
1:33 ... the bare minimum would be the circle signs since those are the standard defined in the MUTCD (11th edition, Figure 2D-4, M1-5) though states are allowed to change it as they wish.
Some historic state route shields are worth a look (also some not so much), and some remnants are still in present design such as Oregon, Penna., NY and Virginia. IA, IL and IN featured the respective state shapes.
Arizona state route signs had to be changed around WW2 due to reasons. And at there was a trail/route in Illinois that had the same symbol before the governments decided to number routes instead of name them.
4:55 "i cant really tell what this is supposed to be"
buckle up lemme tell you about the old man of the mountain... in new hampshire up in the white mountains there used to be a rock formation that looked a lot like an old man... it was something of a local icon. it fell in 2003 and nobody has gotten over it since. it's the state symbol... its still everywhere. im not even kidding NOBODY has gotten over it a state rep literally compared it to 9/11
It fell one year before I went to visit. I did go to where you used to be able to see it off I-93.
Did I miss something? I only saw 1 Nebraska sign. At the end you mentioned Old Nebraska AND New Nebraska.I probably should go back and rewatch...
That’s okay. Neither of North Dakota’s designs are on the list at the end. 😂
FYI the Tennessee Label design is for primary routes while the guitar pick sign is for secondary routes
The “guitar pick” is just supposed to be an upside down triangle but the corners have been rounded over the years. And they once had “TENN” underneath the number. The Tennessee Primary shield was introduced in 1983, and the original font of the word Tennessee was Helvetica. Lately there has been no consistency whatsoever with the font used, and it drives me bonkers!
Another fun fact: Mississippi also once used the same upside down triangle as Tennessee but switched to the circle at some point in the 1970’s. They also put “MISS” underneath the number, but vertically.
I’m from Massachusetts. The state was very lazy choosing a simple rectangle for state routes. Maine copied us, while CT just uses a thicker black outline and RI just adds its state abbreviation to the shield. Kudos to NH and VT for going with something unique.
Thanks for posting the music in the description! Nostalgia
Sanic
3:23 : "What is it with you New England states all opting for a square design?"
In the early to mid 1900s, New England used the New England road marking system. It was kind of like a mini-interstate system, in the sense that route numbers were consistent within the region. That old system used this square design.
It isn't confusing for drivers in the area because the numbers stay the same. When MA-28 crosses the border into NH, it becomes NH-28. CT-8, MA-8, and VT-8 all connect end-to-end, and so. It's very intuitive.
New Hampshire’s is a famous landmark called The Man in the Mountain (which sadly was destroyed by nature a few years ago).
New York's is often confused for the US route marker. Both on maps, and sometimes in practice on actual state highways (US routes with NYS shields and NYS routes with US shields can be found). Seems NYSDOT's cluelessness extends well beyond traffic signal design.
Another fun fact is that the New England states predominantly share state route numbering as well as their nearly identical signage.
With exceptions, New England states share route numbering with NYS. The exceptions: Massachusetts does not have state routes higher than 295, so NY 344 ends at the NY/MA state line; Connecticut's highest signed state route is 372, so NY 433 ends at the NY/CT state line; MA 102 ends at the MA/NY state line but continues as the short unsigned NY Reference Route 980D; NY 7 and VT 9 interchange numbers because both states have corresponding US numbers in their respective states. It's funny that there is NY 2, an extension of MA 2, and the VERY short US 2 in Rouses Point.
@@edwardrasmussen3465 I was going to mention the NYS/New England commonality but I didn't know how formal it was. Having lived in New England for a short time (and working for a state DOT) I was aware that the common numbering was the result of an actual formal agreement of some kind although I've long since forgotten the specifics. I wasn't aware of such a thing with NYS or if it's just a courtesy. I've always seen Eastern NYS (at least east of the Hudson) as basically a 7th New England state so it makes sense.
Funny that it never occurred to me that NYS has both US and NY routes 2. And I've driven both several times!
Honestly, I think that Oregon's State Shield is a more rounded version of Virginia's. Also, you saying NC's State Highway Shield being a "Chinese Knockoff" of Michigan's had me 🤣
Minnesota Highway fun fact: Minnesota maintains just over half a mile of state highway in the state of Wisconsin.
Growing up in Michigan, we call our state highways M-xx. I used to almost believe every state did that (found out only Kansas is the other one who uses their state's initial before the route number, like K-xx), and I often called other state highways accordingly for fun, like Ohio was O-xx, and the one that drives my native Californian friend crazy, C-xx. (She also gets annoyed when I don't call freeways "The xx", no matter what kind of road it is.)
loved this video, you are crazy underrated man
Don't treat California state shields like that L&E geography
New Hampshire is supposed to be the Old Man of the Mountain which collapsed in 2003.
long overdue video literally anywhere on youtube
ikr
Tennessee has two designs. The Tenn label is for primary state routes. Tenn triangle is for secondary state routes. I believe it is intended to represent the three grand divisions of the state: East, Middle, West. The design for New Hampshire is the old man of the mountain which is a state symbol. My top 5: South Carolina, Colorado, New Mexico, Minnesota, Kansas and honorable mention to Vermont.
Ahh yes. Wyoming State Route 59. Driven it many times. South of Gillette, it's all fun and games. North of Gillette is no-man's land that's infested with deer, road shoulders don't exist, and having cell service is a distant dream.
Shown are the shields of the primary route in many but not all states. Many states have a different shield design for their county, local, or municipal routes. One such in particular is a blue background pentagon shield, which is in use in Alabama, Florida, and New Jersey and maybe others. County name is on top with the route number in large font in the middle, and the word county below the number.
California, Idaho
Arizona used to have a swastika (Native American symbol). They had to change all the signs during World War 2, even though there was metal rationing going on.
California is supposed to represent the shovels that Gold Rush prospectors used. (Don't know what Hawaii's represents.)
Kansas is s sunflower (state flower).
Michigan calls all their state highways "M-xx." You can always tell a newbie if they say something like "State Highway 28" or "SR 28" instead of "M-28."
New Hampshire represents The Old Man of the Mountain, a stone edifice that collapsed in 2003.
New York represents the common shape of tavern and inn signs that you might have encountered along rural NY roads in the 18th and 19th century.
Oregon has a teardrop shape that represents the state shield. The original design included an inner frame with an eagle perched on top of it and "Oregon" under the perch.
Pennsylvania's nickname is the Keystone State, so that's a keystone.
Washington should emulate South Dakota and add a green border since the state nickname is the Evergreen State.
Wisconsin was originally a two-piece design -- a rectangle with the route number mounted over a triangle with "Wisconsin" at the top.
Illinois Shield: F
Illinois State Song: D-
Illinois Flag: B
Our flag may be boring but I've grown to love it
I see you have a good ranking! 2 things I wanna say is that you used the wrong Idaho shield and New Hampshire's shield is of the now gone Old Man of the Mountain.
Whoops!
@@LE_GeographyAlso what is with "New Nebraska" and "Old Nebraska" in the rankings?
Double Whoops! I was up late when I wrote the script weeks ago, so if I had to guess, I meant to say North Dakota instead of Nebraska!
THAT, however brings up the fact that I left Nebraska out of the ranking (Which, if I were to put it somewhere, it would be after Nevada).
@@LE_Geography You left ND out of the ranking as well.
The Secondary Highway System in Montana uses the downward pointed arrowhead
Massachusetts and Maine use the same shield. Connecticut, while also square, occasionally shares signage with Massachusetts. Since the fonts used in the two states are different, one can tell which state borrowed the other state's sign; especially in western MA! Vermont has two shields: the one shown, green being a nod to its nickname The Green Mountain State, and the circle truncated off the top and bottom, and the word Vermont on top, denotes state highways, while the circle (same as several other states), the former shield design before the current green design, denotes municipality-maintained routes. For an extreme example of the latter, see the Vermont Route 58 entry in Wikipedia.
New Jersey used to have a state outline shield prior to the current overused round design, like its neighboring state Delaware.
Why would they get rid of it??? New Jersey is one of the coolest states in the country geographically speaking
Oklahoma has only been using the state shape for a decade or so. Previously they used the circle. Virginia and West Virginia use the circle for secondary routes. Louisiana's shields formerly had a green state on a white background, and a few of those shields are still in use. The Texas highway system includes loops, spurs and park roads using the same square as the primary highways, along with NASA 1 leading to the Johnson Space Center in Houston. TXDOT-owned toll roads have the route number in blue, along with the Texas flag and "TOLL" on a blue background in the bottom. Toll road agencies in Austin, Dallas and Houston have their own shields.
@gregsells8549-Many of West Virginia's secondary route shields have a fraction-like appearance with the road number on top and the beginning or terminus route number on the bottom.
This is the most bothered anyone has ever been by a state route sign when they didn't take a wrong turn. Also Michigan copied North Carolina not the other way around.
South Carolina route shields used to be square and original back in the 1990’s before the current shield was used
Yes the old SC shield was basically the same as the RI shield. They started changing out most of the SC shields right before I moved there, so fortunately for me I haven’t been forced to experience the boring shields on a regular basis!
@@wriddle082yeah they haven’t changed much of the overheads or even at junction where i live right now
Too harsh on some of the outlines. Wisconsin's is a design that goes back about a century. It's a classic. You are right about SC and MN. They have fantastic designs. I love MN's so much, I made mockups of what that sort of design would look like for my home state, which is also Illinois.
Utah, Colorado and New Mexico have some of the best flags and state route shields.
4:58 Old Man of the Mountain
Massachusetts shield: F-
Massachusetts state song: ???
Massachusetts Flag: A-
I know it's a state seal in the middle but the seal is a unique, colorful, and easily recognizable design more like a coat of arms, and the background is white which is unique among the states.
Did washington not even get ranked at the end?
He was obviously too overwhelmed by the excellence of the Washington state route shield.
6:20 "sharp edges and distinct geometry" we're the keystone state m8 😭😭😭
edit: i also love how pennsylvanians are uniting in this comment section lolz
Indiana at one time, a long time ago, used the state outline as well
I suspect that the New England states all use the same highway sign because our highway system was created as a regional network rather than six state networks. So I’d take that into account
The old Texas route shield used until the 1940s was much better than today's. A circular sign featuring the Star of Texas with the route number overlaid in a small inner circle. See Texas State Highway 2 for the example.
Vermont used to have a simple circle but changed in the 1990s.
The final list ranking is a little messed up, Idaho mentioned twice and Washington never mentioned.
Was New York on your list?
I wish for Oregon (Home state) we had the Douglas Fir in the middle and the numbers next to it
There are so many designs with a white shape on a black background because that's exactly what the Federal Highway Administrations says state route shields are supposed to look like.
"Guidance:
State Route signs (see Figure 2D-4) should be rectangular and should be approximately the same size as the U.S. Route sign. State Route signs should also be similar to the U.S. Route sign by containing approximately the same size black numerals on a white area surrounded by a rectangular black background without a border, and should be devoid of complex graphics. The shape of the white area should be circular in the absence of any determination to the contrary by the individual State concerned."
MUTCD 11th edition, page 258
I actually dislike some of the busier and more colorful state route deigns for this reason. The basic white rectangles are still pretty indefensible to me though, and while the default circle design is actually pretty okay, too many states use it and should come up with a more unique design.
9:09 Where's Washington fall?
It should be #1 but he was too embarrassed to include it in the list at the end. The profile of George Washington speaks to the excellence of the Evergreen State.
I am shocked, SHOCKED! That texas did not take the opportunity to put their state shape on their highway shields. They are quite literally the state that does the thing in the shape of our state most proliferately.
But they do. It's the Farm-to-Market or Ranch-to-Market roads that bear Texas' shape.
My guy what did the keystone do to you
I would rate Indiana above Illinois because they use larger numbers (12 inch on a 24 inch sign vs. Illinois' 10 inch numerals).
I love the circles
I know DC isn't a state but they have a shield! Albeit on one single route DC-295.
New Jersey state highways just have a circle.
...just a circle
You underrated New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. New York has a unique design, and I associate that with the State's nicknsme, the Empire State. Pennsylvania uses a Keystone, also for its nickname, the Keystone State. They pickef something memorable and unique to them. Virginia has a unique shape. No other state has that shape. If you look at it carefully, you'll see a rounded V, for Virginia.
I think Utah would greatly benefit from a state shape shield.
I disagree and think it is currently one of the best in the country.
The “M” on our shield in Michigan represents the University of Michigan.
am I the only one ok with just a state outline? or some version of it?
New Hampshire... the Man in the Mountain
Where’s NY in the ranking?
Forgot WA too lol
The squares are really just the shield design version of seal on bedsheet design. Can say when I moved from Texas here to Kansas last year(admittedly, Texans have FM roads so don't drive on true state routes that often) that the sunflower design stuck out a lot and os easier to see at a distance, i.e. when driving. It's a good thing Google Maps exists.
New Mexico has the best route shield.
South Carolina and Minnesota can battle each other for second place with the loser taking 3rd.
Kansas and Utah - solidly a tie for fourth place.
Texas gets last place EXCEPT our FM/RM shields get solid 5th.
All the non-standard state outlines get sixth.
All the normal state outlines (Missouri, Alabama, etc.) get 7th.
Circles and diamonds come in 8th.
Weird Shapes (Pennsylvania, California) get 9th
And as I said before, Squares with or without the state name all get last place.
After writing all of that, I forgot about Alaska and Wyoming, they would be placed with the “weird shapes” group.
Now why does Texas’ Farm to Market roads get to be 5th? They’re just a state outline… well they’d actually qualify as “non-standard state outlines” aka 6th BUT it’s Texas. Texas is better than rest of the states, so it gets bumped up a little.
bro roasted an entire state for the HIGHWAY SIGN. but ik connecticut, boston and NE states and delaware, nj, one of the signs for VA are baddddd
Michigan was like the original. Gotta be towards the top, if just for being the first.
North Dakota changing their signs to be generic is a travesty
A couple of things first have you seen Arizonas old shield and you should do territories as well
SC won something? Involving roads??? As a native South Carolinian, this confuses me.
Do your homework and learn the symbolism. This comes off as lazy.
Idaho made the list twice?
New Nebraska??
Virginia's is really just like Oregon's except they unrounded the top.
llinois and Indiana used to have state shapes. Illinois' state-shape design ill fits numbers higher than "199". Indiana could get away with a state design by ocerlaying the boring top half of the state border or the boring eastern border.
I think you forgot New York in the ranking - middle of pack I would expect. Check out the Canadian province shields. They do a much better job than the US states.
Now rate state license plates
MINNESOTA MENTIONED LETSSSS GOOOO
HE FORGOT THE TEXAS FARM ROADS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Texas had very unique highway signs at first. It was a big lone star, surrounded by a circle. The number would be in the star, with 'state' 'highway' printed on the top and bottom of the circle, respectively.
Music is gay
Cry harder
All the states that use the white circle on the black background deserve to be in last because they're the laziest ones of all. That design is the default, so really it just means those states are the only ones who chose not to make their own. A real cop-out if you ask me.