Which color represents man-made objects on a standard map?

• A. Black
• B. Blue
• C. Green
• D. Brown

Answer: (A)

On standard maps, color coding helps you quickly tell what you’re looking at. Man-made features such as buildings, roads, and boundaries are drawn in black because it remains clear and legible against the natural colors and prints well in monochrome. In contrast, water features are shown in blue, vegetation in green, and elevation contours in brown. That contrast makes it easy to distinguish human-made changes from the natural landscape. While some maps may use red for certain roads, the baseline convention for representing man-made objects is black.