Road signs in Greece are regulated by the Ministry of Transport and the Hellenic Traffic Police, according to the Greek Highway 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 (white on blue for mandatory instructions, black on white with a red border for prohibitions), 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 an orange background colour.
Greek road signs depict people with realistic (as opposed to stylized) silhouettes. All signs are identified by a Greek capital letter (for each category) and a number. Signs that indicate the same meaning but in a different direction have the same capital letter and number but are additionally differentiated by a lowercase letter (e.g. α, β, γ, δ, ... or α for left and δ for right).
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 as ἑρμαῖ ("Hermai"). 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.
The first road signage on Greek roads with contemporary signs was made in 1924 by ELPA (Elliniki Leschi Periigiseon kai Aftokinitou, lit. translated: Hellenic Club of Tours and Car), 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, road markings, 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 International Geneva 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 Traffic 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."