Key (map)#Map symbology

Under the legend or symbols refers to a description of the icons, signatures, and colors of a map or plan used.

The legend is normally housed at the board edge. They each contain an exemplary representation (symbol, line or rectangular area ) and a description of what is represented in text form.

For some official applications are prescribed character keys that are specified in a law or regulation. If maps or plans are created on the basis of such a character key, the legend is often left on the card itself.

Examples of map character of a legend

Points

Lines and areas

Roads are typically divided into classes and in different line widths: motorway, trunk road (main road, country road ), regional road (land and county roads ), road transport, paved service road, unpaved farm road ( dirt road ) and walk.

The map information about the topography are summarized under the term relief. These include:

• Height line (depending on the card with a resolution up to 1 m), some with shading
• Ground level
• Rock
• Embankment (on both sides: dam, Nick ); in part, the height of the slope is indicated by the length of the dashes. example:   A ramp which increases from left to right

• River, stream, lake, in addition to water structures ( houses etc. )

Topographic map

Example, the legend of a map of 1933

Character key to Austrian Surveying Regulation

In Austria there are such signs as key for the following applications:

• Cadastral plan (character key is set in the Survey Regulation 1994)
• Zoning Plan (character key corresponding to the respective regulation of the state )
• Austrian map 1:50,000