What do standard map colors mean?

• A. Black man-made features; red restricted/danger areas; blue water; green vegetation/fields; red-brown landforms/contours.
• B. Blue man-made features; Red water; Black vegetation; Green restricted areas; Yellow landforms
• C. Green man-made; Red water; Blue vegetation; Black landforms; Brown contours
• D. Purple man-made; Orange restricted; Cyan water; Pink vegetation; Gray contours

Answer: (A)

The idea behind standard map colors is that each color quickly signals a type of feature so you can read the map at a glance in a high-stress situation. Black is used for man-made features like buildings and roads, blue marks water features such as rivers and lakes, green indicates vegetation or fields, and brown or red-brown shows landforms and elevation details like contour lines. Red is often used to highlight restricted or danger areas, which helps crews avoid hazards.

So this option lines up with those conventions: black for man-made features, blue for water, green for vegetation, and red-brown for landforms/contours, with red denoting restricted/danger areas. The other choices mix up those associations (for example, blue for man-made features or green for water), which would make important distinctions harder to read quickly.