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So which SC Shield style do you prefer?

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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.
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Comments

Unknown said…
Yr Kidding, right?
10:50 PM
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.
11:03 PM
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.
11:08 PM
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.
11:30 PM
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.
3:23 AM
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.
9:29 AM
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.
6:10 PM
Georgia Road Geek said…
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? :)
7:10 PM
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.
9:18 PM
Anonymous said…
Anything is better than a boring old square. USH
8:27 AM
Anonymous said…
I got to go with the new shield, though black/white would be a little easier on the eyes IMO.
1:13 PM
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.
6:20 PM
WFY said…
Meh. What SC really needs is cardinal directions on top of the shields.
1:38 PM
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.
5:23 PM
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!
3:53 AM
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