In road transport, a yield (Canada, Ireland and the United States) or give way (Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and most Commonwealth countries) traffic sign indicates that each driver must prepare to stop if necessary to let a driver on another approach proceed. A driver who stops has yielded the right of way to another. In contrast, a stop sign requires each driver to stop completely before proceeding, even if no other traffic is present.
The first US yield sign was installed in 1950 at First Street and Columbia Avenue Tulsa, Oklahoma, having been devised and designed by Tulsan police officer Clinton Riggs.[1] [2][3] Riggs invented only the sign, not the rule, which was already in place. The sign as originally conceived by Officer Riggs was shaped like a keystone; later versions bore the shape of an inverted equilateral triangle which has been almost universally adopted. Particular regulations regarding appearance, installation, and compliance with the signs vary by jurisdiction.
However, the triangular sign was used much earlier in Europe, e. g. in Czechoslovakia was codified in 1938 in blue-white variant without words[4] and in 1939 was in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia changed to the current red-white variant.[5] A black triangle (within the standard down-arrow-shape of stop signs) was a symbol of "stop for all vehicles" since cca 1925 in Germany.
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In the Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, a yield sign may be warranted:[6]
By contrast, the United Kingdom's Road Traffic Act calls for give way signs and road markings far more often at junctions (intersections) where stop signs would be used in the US. The road marking accompanying the sign consists of a large inverted triangle painted just before the place to give way.[7]
In Wales, the signs bear bilingual legends; the Welsh ildiwch appears above give way.
In the United Kingdom, a stop or give-way sign sign may be preceded by an inverted, blank, triangular sign with an advisory placard such as give way 100 yards.[8] In most other parts of Europe, the sign at the intersection itself is also blank.
In the Republic of Ireland, the sign reads yield in most areas, though in Gaeltacht (Irish language-speaking) areas, it reads géill slí ("Give Way") instead. Signs erected before 1997 and still in service read yield right of way. Use of the sign is similar to that of the UK "Give Way" sign.
In Brazil, the "Yield" sign has the same shape and colors of the American sign, but with nothing written within. Brazilians call it as "Dê a preferência" ("Give a preference").