Skip to main content

So which SC Shield style do you prefer?

We're not the first to show an example of the new SC Highway shield. That honor goes to Alex Nitzman and Justin Cozart. But I finally saw my first new shield on the road this weekend, and amazingly enough, the new shield sits along with an example of the older shield.

So which one do you prefer? (Yes, that's a solicitation for comments.)

Taken on SC 274 South in Lake Wylie, SC.

Comments

Unknown said…
Yr Kidding, right?
Anonymous said…
Having just spent three days in Indiana and Illinois, and having thrown web pages together today documenting those travels, I must say I'm sick of the plain white square with black numbers and a state name. Since those are very similar to the old SC design, it's probably a sure bet if you put money on the fact that I much prefer the new shield.

Bonus points for the fact that the lettering is not black.
Larry Sheldon said…
The pale blue on white against a partly cloudy sky is pretty, but if I really wanted to know where I was and was going at night in fog or rain, I would prefer the crisp black on white that is hard to mistake for the Lions Club meeting time sign.
Unknown said…
It's certainly an improvement, but it smacks of an adaptation of the Minnesota state route sign design without the extra colors thrown in. I'm itching to see whether the new design will be used on the larger guide signs in the future, like Oklahoma started with the meat cleavers.
Taralyn said…
If there's one sign I don't want to see while traveling, more than a boring circle, it's a boring square. About time they changed the shield, even if it's just changing the coloring and adding a little bit of decoration.
Anonymous said…
I definately prefer the new shields. It's about time that South Carolina changed their shields. However, don't look for SC to go changing all their signage quickly. It's a very quirky state. I'm originally from Charlotte, NC and when I was young I remember something about a push to annex part of Mecklenburg county into South Carolina for tax base purposes. SC is bizarre, indeed.

That aside, I don't care for the blue and I had hoped one day to see state outline on the shields in both NC and SC. I live in Atlanta now, and I'm a big fan of our state highway shields, as well as Florida and Alabama. That's just the style that I prefer. However, as a sign collector, I'm going to have to snatch up an old style SC shield now.
Billy said…
My money is on the new one. I believe that now makes 10 states that use color in their state route shields. IIRC the other 9 states are CA, CO, KS, LA, MN, NM, SD, VT, and WY.
No doubt about it. The new SC state route signs have a helluva lot more personality than the "plain janes" that they've used for several years.

Now when are they going to put them on the BGSes? :)
Anonymous said…
The new signs look better (anything is better than a plain square). However at night, they are not much different. In fact the first time I saw a blue SC shield, it was my girlfriend who said "what's with the blue shield?" before I even had noticed it. The reflectivity gives the appearance of a plain square in other words.
Anonymous said…
Anything is better than a boring old square. USH
Anonymous said…
I got to go with the new shield, though black/white would be a little easier on the eyes IMO.
Bob Malme said…
Well, being originally from MA where a state route shield that has more than a number, and sometimes a letter in a square is seen as ostentatious, it's a hard choice. I guess the new one gets my vote, since it is unique and is a different from the color you see on most state signs.
WFY said…
Meh. What SC really needs is cardinal directions on top of the shields.
Anonymous said…
I like the new sign much more than the old bland ones. I lived in SC briefly (& NC too), but now live in CA. I always though the old signs were boring.
Anonymous said…
I agree with cyamamoto101: The old sign must be one of the most bland road signs in the country. Go New - Go Blue!

Popular posts from this blog

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l

Mines Road

Mines Road is an approximately twenty-eight-mile highway located in the rural parts of the Diablo Range east of the San Francisco Bay Area.  Mines Road begins in San Antonio Valley in Santa Clara County and terminates at Tesla Road near Livermore of Alameda County.  The highway essentially is a modern overlay of the 1840s Mexican haul trail up Arroyo Mocho known as La Vereda del Monte.  The modern corridor of Mines Road took shape in the early twentieth century following development of San Antonio Valley amid a magnesite mining boom.  Part 1; the history of Mines Road Modern Mines Road partially overlays the historic corridor used by La Vereda del Monte (Mountain Trail).  La Vereda del Monte was part of a remote overland route through the Diablo Range primarily used to drive cattle from Alta California to Sonora.  The trail was most heavily used during the latter days of Alta California during the 1840s. La Vereda del Monte originated at Point of Timber between modern day Byron and Bre

Interstate 210 the Foothill Freeway

The combined Interstate 210/California State Route 210 corridor of the Foothill Freeway is approximately 85.31-miles.  The Interstate 210/California State Route 210 corridor begins at Interstate 5 at the northern outskirts of Los Angeles and travels east to Interstate 10 in Redlands of San Bernardino County.  Interstate 210 is presently signed on the 44.9-mile segment of the Foothill Freeway between Interstate 5 and California State Route 57.  California State Route 210 makes up the remaining 40.41 miles of the Foothill Freeway east to Interstate 10.  Interstate 210 is still classified by the Federal Highway Administration as existing on what is now signed as California State Route 57 from San Dimas south to Interstate 10.  The focus of this blog will mostly be on the history of Interstate 210 segment of the Foothill Freeway.   Part 1; the history of Interstate 210 and California State Route 210 Interstate 210 (I-210) was approved as a chargeable Interstate during September of