Signage in a country of the United Kingdom
A Welsh-English bilingual sign in
Newtown, Powys
, with
Welsh
first, then
English
, and also Welsh place names without an English equivalent. Distances in miles.
Road signs in Wales
follow the same design principles as
those in other parts of the United Kingdom
. All modern signs feature both
Welsh
- and
English-language
wording, with Welsh-first signage present in most areas of Wales and mandated for all new signs, but some English-first signage remains in some areas from when it was legally allowed before 2016.
Current policy
[
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]
New regulations that came into force in 2016 mandate that all signs be in Welsh first, with the existing "English-priority" signage (in those areas where the local authority previously had such a policy) being replaced whenever they otherwise would (life expiry or altered road conditions). The Welsh Government states in its Welsh Language Standards, Article 119, page 17, that; 'Where a sign contains the Welsh language as well as the English language, the Welsh language text must be positioned so as to be read first.' and; 'Replacement signage on
Welsh Government trunk roads
will be taken forward as part of general rolling programme of renewals with priority given to main routes.'
[1]
The previous Welsh Language Scheme stated that English-only signs would be made bilingual when they were replaced, and that the order in which the languages appear would follow the practice adopted by the local authority where the sign is located.
[2]
Bilingual signing
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]
Bilingual markings on the B4302 near
Manordeilo and Salem
.
An example of a "Ble mae'r Gymraeg?" campaign sticker on a telephone box at
Llangybi, Gwynedd
, which translates as
Where's the Welsh? New Language Act
Bilingual signs in Wales were permitted by special authorisation after 1965. In 1972 the
Bowen Committee
recommended that they should be provided systematically throughout Wales. Throughout Wales, instructions for drivers appear on the road itself. One of the most common painted instructions is
araf
? slow.
Controversies and campaigns
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]
The Welsh-language pressure group
Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg
have been campaigning for a number of years with the
Ble mae'r Gymraeg?
(
Where's the Welsh?
) scheme, which campaigns for all road signs in Wales to display both Welsh and English information on public information signs. The campaign is most noted for its placement of stickers with the group's logo, a dragon's tongue, on signposts that are written only in English.
In an overwhelmingly English-speaking area of
Monmouthshire
, bilingual village name signs at
Rockfield
and
Cross Ash
were removed in 2011 after complaints from local residents, as the given Welsh names are neither in common usage by Welsh speakers nor close derivatives of the English names.
[3]
Errors
[
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]
The requirement for bilingual signs has sometimes led to errors, such as the two languages presenting differing information. In 2006, a bilingual pedestrian sign in
Cardiff
told pedestrians to "
look right
" in English, but
"edrychwch i'r chwith"
(
"look left"
) in Welsh.
[4]
In 2008, a sign erected near the entrance to a supermarket in
Swansea
was mistakenly printed with an automatic e-mail response which read
"
Nid wyf yn y swyddfa ar hyn o bryd. Anfonwch unrhyw waith i'w gyfieithu
"
which translates as "
I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated.
"
[5]
See also
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References
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