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A map must be as easy to read as possible, which means that symbols and colours can often give more information than words. A key explains what the symbols and colours mean. A map key or legend is included with a map to unlock it. It gives you the information needed for the map to make sense. Maps often use symbols or colors to represent things, and the map key explains what they mean. Map keys are often boxes in the corner of the map, and the information they give you is essential to understanding the map. Symbols in the key might be pictures or icons that represent different things on the map. Sometimes the map might by colored or shaded, and the key explains what the colors and shades mean. The picture here shows an example of a map key for a typical road map.

Sometimes called a legend, a map key is a table that explains what the symbols on a map mean. This helps the person reading the map understand where to find certain items. For example, a map of a mall may have symbols that reveal bathrooms, places to eat, elevators and guest services areas. A map of a city may have symbols for roads, parks, tourist attractions and public transportation stations.

While the person who creates the map can determine which symbols to use, there are some symbols that are universal. For example, a long blue line often indicates a river, while black lines represent roads. A black dot represents a city, while a star is a capital city. Green spaces often represent parks or forests. Airplanes represent airports, and a red cross is a hospital.

Represented by different colors and shapes, map symbols are used to indicate certain terrain features or important locations in a specified area. The reduced representation of a map is rendered useless without the symbols displayed in its key.

Map symbols represent the physical features of land and help the map's reader gain an acute awareness of his surroundings. Chemeketa Community College faculty affirm that the most common map symbols include contour lines, buildings, water features, and forests and clearings. Contour lines are indicators of elevation and are usually brown. Each contour line has a number beside it that indicates "feet above sea level". Buildings, and all other man-made features, are black and have different shapes for inhabited and uninhabited buildings. The color blue easily distinguishes water features, such as streams or lakes. Forests are indicated by the color green. The density of the tree cover depends on the shade of green. Clearings are shown as white, curvy blotches surrounded by green. Faculty at the University of Wisconsin adds map symbols such as two pickaxes forming an "x". This indicates a quarry or a mine. Waterfalls are also shown and mark small waterways with a notch, while large rivers are marked with ripples.