How to Distinguish
- Country-code top-level domain is .be
- Brick-built houses and civic buildings are everywhere
- License plates are printed in dark red characters (by Geotips )
- Guardrails often feature white bases with black rectangular reflectors
Signs you can find
Brick architecture dominates cities and villages alike. The photos below show Bruges and the Schmerling Caves, where Neanderthal fossils were found. (参考文献 Schmerling Caves)
Pedestrian crossing signs use dashed lines instead of solid stripes.
By Jean Housen - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
Belgian license plates carry red lettering. (by Geotips ) They are sometimes hard to read when blurred.
CC BY-SA 3.0, “European Union number plates” (2022, November 19). Wikipedia (Japanese).
Small square traffic signs with rounded corners are a Belgian specialty. You will also see compact pictogram signs for bicycles and local rules that rarely appear elsewhere. Overall, Belgian traffic signage has its own look and feels slightly different from neighbouring countries.
Supplementary panels are usually blue. (参考文献 Supplementary road signs (Japanese))
Guardrails often combine a white base with a black rectangular reflector. Occasionally both the guardrail and reflector are white. Raised cat’s-eye markers can appear in several colours.
Many villages display crests on street or municipal signs. The crest helps confirm whether you are in a Dutch-speaking, French-speaking, or German-speaking area.
North–south changes are noticeable. Northern houses often have lighter roofs and Dutch-style gables, while the south favours darker roofing similar to Luxembourg or western Germany.
