Sectional Chart Legend & Symbol Reference

Every symbol below is read directly off Legend 1 in the FAA’s Airman Knowledge Testing Supplement (FAA-CT-8080-2H, p. 1-1) — the same legend page the testing supplement gives applicants at the test center. Tap the figure to zoom into any panel.

Airspace borders

• Class B — solid blue line
• Class C — solid magenta line
• Class D — dashed blue line
• Class E, surface area (sfc) — dashed magenta line
• Class E, floor 700 ft. above surface — fading (vignette) magenta band
• Class E, floor 1,200 ft. or greater above surface, or abutting Class G — fading (vignette) blue band
• Class G — no boundary line
• A bare number such as “2400 MSL” or “4500 MSL” marks where a Class E floor above 700 ft. begins, in hundreds of feet MSL
• Class B/C/D shelves are labeled with a number stacked over either “SFC” or another number — the top number is always the ceiling, the bottom is always the floor, both in hundreds of feet MSL

See the how-to-read guide for worked examples of every line style above.

Airport symbols

• Open circle — airport other than hard-surfaced runways
• Circle with runway tick marks — hard-surfaced runways 1,500–8,069 ft.
• Circle with tick marks and a dot — hard-surfaced runways longer than 8,069 ft., or multiple hard-surfaced runways
• Open dot inside a circle — a runway exists but the airport location is approximate (VOR/VORTAC/VOR-DME co-located)
• “(R)” in a circle — restricted or private use; permission required except in an emergency
• Abbreviations (AFB, NAS, AAF, etc.) — military airfields; consult the Chart Supplement for complete information
• “H” in a circle — selected heliport
• “U” in a circle — ultralight flight park
• Crossed-out circle — abandoned hard-surfaced runway, 3,000 ft. or greater
• Anchor symbol — seaplane base

(FAA-CT-8080-2H, Legend 1, p. 1-1.)

Airport data & frequencies

• CT – 118.3 ★ — control tower frequency; a star marks part-time tower operation (check NOTAMs/Directory for hours)
• NO SVFR — fixed-wing special VFR flight is prohibited at that airport
• FSS – 118.3 — Flight Service Station frequency
• ATIS 123.8 — Automatic Terminal Information Service frequency
• A circled “C” — Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF), used by traffic to self-announce at a non-towered field
• UNICOM — the airport’s UNICOM frequency
• VFR Advsy 125.0 — VFR Advisory Service frequency
• RP 23, 34 — right-traffic runway(s); all other runways use standard left traffic
• Heavy-lined communication box — Flight Service Station frequencies
• Thin-lined communication box — other facility frequencies (e.g., ASOS/AWOS, CTAF)
• Underline under a frequency — no voice capability on that frequency
• Crosshatching over a frequency — shutdown status
• A star next to ASOS/AWOS — operates less than continuously, or is available on request only

(FAA-CT-8080-2H, Legend 1, p. 1-1.)

Obstructions

• Triangle marker — an obstruction; a solid/grouped triangle marks a cluster of obstructions close together
• “1000 ft. and higher AGL” and “below 1000 ft. AGL” use visually distinct triangle styles on the legend
• Plain number (e.g., “935”) — elevation of the obstruction’s top above mean sea level (MSL)
• Parenthetical number (e.g., “(425)”) — the obstruction’s height above ground level (AGL)
• “UC” — under construction, or reported with unverified position/elevation

(FAA-CT-8080-2H, Legend 1, p. 1-1.) See the how-to-read guide for a worked example reading both numbers off a real obstruction.

Special-use airspace

• Blue vertical hatching — prohibited, restricted, or warning areas, and alert areas (charted “P”, “R”, “W”, or “A” plus a number)
• Magenta hatching — military operations area (MOA), charted by name rather than a number
• Blue dot pattern — Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ)
• Gray dashed line — National Security Area (NSA)
• A dashed arrow with “IR” or “VR” plus a number — a military training route (IFR or VFR)

(FAA-CT-8080-2H, Legend 1, p. 1-1.)

Radio aids to navigation

• Compass-rose-style circle — VOR (VHF Omni Range)
• Circle with a central box — VORTAC
• Circle with an offset box — VOR-DME
• Hexagonal “NDB” symbol — Non-Directional Radiobeacon
• NDB symbol with a box — NDB-DME

(FAA-CT-8080-2H, Legend 1, p. 1-1.)

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Ready to put these to work? Try the sectional chart drill against real FAA figures, read the how-to-read guide for worked examples, browse practice questions by area, or head back to the chart hub.