la balise/le panneau de signalisation

[alan gould]

i just came across both of these for "road signs."  is there a difference?         

merci d'avance

[Vedas]

Hello,

une balise is a word which is more specific to aviation or nautical context, but you can find it in other fields too:

1 Naut (flotteur) beacon, buoy; (émetteur) radio beacon;

2 Aviat beacon, light;

3 Aut signpost, sign;

4 Rail (de voie ferrée) signal;

5 Sport (de piste de ski) marker;

6 (de sentier) marker;

 panneau de signalisation (routière) is rather used for roads or trains.

[Chantal Savignat]

the two words have less or more the same meaning but we don't use the two words in the same situations

we say :

"panneau de signalisation" for that : http://fr.images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0PDoXv_UMFRwnUA...

and "balise" for the  thing or the sign that indicates a special place, often for a dangerous place : the orange traffic cone for instance or a stake with a yellow strip.  In the sea, floats are called "balise" too.

[stu harris]

I believe balise also has a very modern meaning -- a tag in HTML.