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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Map Key — Definition, Symbols, and Examples

Written by

Malcolm McKinsey

January 12, 2023

Fact-checked by

Paul Mazzola

Map key definition

A map key is an inset on a map that explains the symbols, provides a scale, and usually identifies the type of map projection used. Technically, the key is part of the map legend. The key explains the symbols while the legend holds the key and other information.

Purpose of a map key

The purpose of a map key is to tell you the meaning of the symbols on a map. The key on a map interprets each symbol so that you can read and understand the map.

For example, what does this symbol, ⇞, mean? Is it important to know what it means? Is it pointing in a direction, standing for a single tree, or indicating a forest?

The map key is the only way for you to know for sure what the above symbol means.

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Map key symbols

When making a map, Cartographers (map makers) cannot write out everything and make it fit. They need quick, simple drawings, called map symbols, to replace written information. If you do not know what $\cdot$ , $\circ$ , or $\odot$ means, you cannot understand the map.

A map key tells you what all the symbols on the map mean. For example, the small black dot, $\cdot$ , means a town or village, the open circle, $\circ$ , means a city of at least 75,000 people or that $\odot$ means a state capital. A map key can tell you that ★ usually shows a country’s capital.

Every map uses its own map symbols, depending on the information the cartographer wants to show. Map keys can show symbols for natural resources, population centers, bodies of water, types of industry, and much more.

Here are some different symbols appearing in map keys:

Types of map symbols
Symbol	Meaning
$River Map Symbol$	River
$Railroad Tracks Map Symbol$	Railroad Tracks
$Food Map Symbol$	Food
$Bar Map Symbol$	Bar
$Cafe Map Symbol$	Cafe
$Shopping Map Symbol$	Shopping
$Grocery Map Symbol$	Grocery
$Arts Map Symbol$	Arts
$Lighthouse Map Symbol$	Lighthouse
$Theater Map Symbol$	Theater
$Tourist Attraction Map Symbol$	Tourist Attraction
$Casino Map Symbol$	Casino
$Aquarium Map Symbol$	Aquarium
$Event Venue Map Symbol$	Event Venue
$Amusement Park Map Symbol$	Amusement Park
$Historical Site Map Symbol$	Historical Site
$Museum Map Symbol$	Museum
$Movie Theater Map Symbol$	Movie Theater
$Monument Map Symbol$	Monument
$Music Map Symbol$	Music
$Relic Map Symbol$	Relic
$Gas Station Map Symbol$	Gas Station
$Parking Map Symbol$	Parking
$Car Rental Map Symbol$	Car Rental
$Hotel Map Symbol$	Hotel
$Resort Map Symbol$	Resort
$ATM Map Symbol$	ATM
$Bank Map Symbol$	Bank
$Hospital Map Symbol$	Hospital
$Pharmacy Map Symbol$	Pharmacy
$Medical Map Symbol$	Medical
$Park or Forrest Map Symbol$	Park / Forest
$Mountain Map Symbol$	Mountain
$Sports Stadium Map Symbol$	Sports Stadium
$Zoo Map Symbol$	Zoo
$Campground Map Symbol$	Campground
$Cemetary Map Symbol$	Cemetary
$Golf Course Map Symbol$	Golf Course
$Garden Map Symbol$	Garden
$Hiking Map Symbol$	Hiking
$Boating Map Symbol$	Boating
$Fishing Map Symbol$	Fishing
$Airport Map Symbol$	Airport
$Train Map Symbol$	Train
$Metro Map Symbol$	Metro
$Subway Map Symbol$	Subway
$Bus Map Symbol$	Bus
$Rail Map Symbol$	Rail
$Ferry Map Symbol$	Ferry
$Bridge Map Symbol$	Bridge
$Civic Building Map Symbol$	Civic Building
$Post Office Map Symbol$	Post Office
$Library Map Symbol$	Library
$Police Station Map Symbol$	Police Station
$School Map Symbol$	School
$Restroom Map Symbol$	Restroom / Bathroom
$Miscellaneous Map Symbol$	Miscellaneous
$Church or Temple Map Symbol$	Church or Temple
$Synagogue Map Symbol$	Synagogue

As you see in this list of Google Maps symbols above, different colors represent different categories. Green for outdoors, orange for dining and drinks, etc.

Map key examples

This map of Tennessee has a key that shows how the land is used. Tiny symbols that look like pigs, plants, and stone show where animals are raised for food, where plants are grown, and where ores and rocks are mined.

Map key example - Plants, animals, and minerals

This map key uses natural colors for natural formations but uses abstract shapes for human activity. It uses coded squares to show ruins and archeological sites. It uses circles to stand for villages and towns. The natural formations such as ice and desert are shown in colors that resemble the real things.

Map key example - Natural formations and towns

Legend vs. key

You may wonder what the difference is between a map key and a map legend. The key makes the map understandable. The map legend usually includes not only the map key to the symbols but a lot of other useful information:

Map scale, in large units like miles and kilometers, or small units like feet and meters
Map projection name, like Mercator, Cassini, Equirectangular, Gauss–Krüger, or Sinusoidal
Map publication date
Cartographer or company name

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Today we use both phrases to mean the same thing, but the map key is technically found in the map legend.

Compass rose on a map

The compass on a map is called a compass rose. Its main function is to point north, but it almost always shows the cardinal directions (north, south, east, and west). Sometimes it tells the intermediate or ordinal directions, too: northeast, southeast, northwest, southwest.

Unlike all the other symbols on the map, the compass rose does not usually appear in the key or legend. It is usually drawn in an unimportant area, like an ocean or vast desert, so that it does not cover locations. By tradition, most maps orient so that north is at the top of the map.

On maps and nautical charts dealing with tides, sailing, and coastlines, the compass rose is also called a "windrose" or "rose of the winds." Highly accurate nautical charts and some topological maps show both true north and magnetic north on the compass rose.