Italic on roadsigns

Fonts and More Font Related Information
1

I noticed an example of italic being used on a roadsign, in Google StreetView.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=48.331265,-4.769772&spn=0,359.995708&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=48.331267,-4.769997&panoid=cdHMDqO2rCMV9WpXUBilIg&cbp=12,71.93,,2,-2.09

I cannot remember having noticed italic used on a roadsign previously.

Interestingly, if one zooms out from that view, so that the movement command arrows become displayed, and one then moves a few goes in the direction indicated by the roadsign, one then arrives at a pair of roadsigns. The following display is a zoomed-in display.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=48.331544,-4.769724&spn=0,359.99573&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=48.331612,-4.769649&panoid=CzlA2RLaHeM5JjFkSOOw5A&cbp=12,16.2,,3,-0.48

Each sign mixes roman and italic, with different spellings.

I wonder if one is for the national language and one for the local language.

Does anyone know about this please?

More generally, has anyone noticed italic used on a roadsign anywhere else in the world please?

William Overington

9 May 2009