What does this button in my car mean?
Find it by its shape. 1. Pick what the button shows. 2. Match the drawing. 10 of the 21 buttons here are listed in the UN R121 or US FMVSS 101 tables, cited to the row; the other 11 are makers' own symbols, each described from two owner's manuals (Hyundai and SEAT). 10 buttons whose symbol is also a warning light link to its dashboard page.
Tap a shape — the buttons that use it appear here.
Fans, air — 5 buttons
Air recirculation buttonA car outline with a curved arrow turning round inside itAir distribution buttons (face, feet, windscreen)A seated person with arrows aimed at the face, the feet, or the…Air conditioning (A/C) buttonA snowflake, or the letters A/CFan speed controlA four-bladed fan, solid or in outlineHeating controlThree wavy arrows rising from a line, with no frame around them
Windows — 6 buttons
Windscreen wiper switchA windscreen outline with a wiper blade and the arc it sweepsWindscreen washer (and wash-wipe) controlA windscreen with a dotted line rising to a fountain of spray…Rear window wiper and washerA rectangular rear window with a wiper blade and its arcPower window lock buttonA car window crossed outWindscreen demist / defrost buttonPressing it sends air at the windscreen to clear mist and frost; Hyundai's 2025 Tucson manual says it also selects outside (fresh) air and switches the air conditioning on according to the outside temperature.Explained on its dashboard page →Rear-window demister buttonPressing it heats the wires in the rear window; SEAT's Ateca switches it off after at most 10 minutes and Hyundai's Tucson after about 20 minutes, and on the Tucson it heats the door mirrors too.Explained on its dashboard page →
↑ Pick a different shape · tiles marked “dashboard page” share their symbol with a warning light already explained there
Seats, mirrors — 4 buttons
Lamps — 4 buttons
Headlamp levelling controlA headlamp with its beams sloping down and an up-and-down arrowMain light switchA lamp drawn as a circle with rays around itFront fog lamp switchPressing or turning it switches the front fog lamps on or off; UN R121 item 7 makes their tell-tale green.Explained on its dashboard page →Rear fog lamp switchPressing or turning it switches the bright rear fog lamp on or off; UN R121 item 8 makes its tell-tale yellow (amber).Explained on its dashboard page →
↑ Pick a different shape · tiles marked “dashboard page” share their symbol with a warning light already explained there
Locks — 3 buttons
Car shapes — 6 buttons
Air recirculation buttonA car outline with a curved arrow turning round inside itDrive mode selector (ECO, SPORT, SNOW)The words ECO or SPORT, a leaf, or a snowflake for a snow settingParking sensor buttonA letter P with curved sound-wave arcs beside itESC OFF buttonPressing it switches electronic stability control (or part of it) off, and the amber ESC OFF tell-tale stays lit while it is off; FMVSS 101 and UN R121 item 44 list the button and the tell-tale on the same row.Explained on its dashboard page →Hill descent control buttonPressing it arms the system that brakes the wheels automatically to hold a low speed down a steep slope; SEAT's Ateca offers it in the Offroad driving profile.Explained on its dashboard page →Lane assist buttonPressing it switches the lane-keeping assistant on or off; the lamp beside the speedometer shows whether it is ready or active.Explained on its dashboard page →
↑ Pick a different shape · tiles marked “dashboard page” share their symbol with a warning light already explained there
Letters — 6 buttons
Air conditioning (A/C) buttonA snowflake, or the letters A/CEngine start / stop buttonA circular arrow, or the words START and STOPDrive mode selector (ECO, SPORT, SNOW)The words ECO or SPORT, a leaf, or a snowflake for a snow settingParking sensor buttonA letter P with curved sound-wave arcs beside itAUTO HOLD buttonPressing it lets the car hold itself still on the brakes after you stop, until you press the accelerator to drive off.Explained on its dashboard page →Auto stop-start off button (A in an arrow)Pressing it turns off (or back on) the feature that stops the engine while the car is standing still; it is not the engine start button.Explained on its dashboard page →
↑ Pick a different shape · tiles marked “dashboard page” share their symbol with a warning light already explained there
Horn, triangle — 3 buttons
HornA trumpet-shaped hornEngine start / stop buttonA circular arrow, or the words START and STOPHazard warning buttonPressing the red-triangle button flashes all the turn signals together as a hazard warning; press it again to stop them. UN R121 item 6 and FMVSS 101 Table 1 list the button as well as the flashing tell-tale.Explained on its dashboard page →
↑ Pick a different shape · tiles marked “dashboard page” share their symbol with a warning light already explained there
How car buttons are marked
- Two rulebooks list some of them. UN Regulation No. 121 (01 series), location and identification of hand controls, tell-tales and indicators: Cars (M) and light goods vehicles (N1) approved under the UN 1958 Agreement, which includes the EU, UK and Japan. Paragraph 5.2.1: where fitted, a control listed in the table is identified by the symbol in its column 2; note 2 says the symbols are substantially identical to those of ISO 2575:2004.
- US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 101, Controls and displays (49 CFR 571.101): Cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks and buses sold in the US. S5.2.1: a control listed in Table 1 or Table 2 is identified by the symbol in column 2 or the word or abbreviation in column 3. S5.3.1(a): a control marked 'Yes' for illumination must have its identification lit whenever the headlamps are on, except on the floor, console, steering wheel, steering column or windshield header.
- Words may replace symbols in the US. FMVSS 101 lets a car show “Wiper”, “Washer”, “Fan”, “Horn” or “Lights” instead of the drawing.
- The same wavy lines mean different things. Three wavy arrows alone are the heater; inside a windscreen, the windscreen demister; inside a rectangle, the rear-window demister; over a seat or steering wheel, a heated seat or wheel.
- Everything else is the maker's. Recirculation, air distribution, heated seats, mirror folding, drive modes and parking sensors are in neither table, so their symbols and behaviour vary; each page says where the two manuals differ.
Check your car's manual: makes and models differ in what a button does, which positions a switch has and whether it works with the engine off, and your owner's manual is the authority for your car.
What this page cannot do
- It cannot tell you what a button does on your exact model: the behaviour described is from the manuals cited (Hyundai's 2025 Tucson and SEAT's 2022 Ateca) and the regulation rows, and other cars differ.
- It covers the buttons. Lights that come on in the instrument cluster are on the dashboard warning lights pages.
- Ventilated seats, headlamp washers, heated windscreens and other controls that only one of the manuals describes, or that no regulation lists and no second manual confirms, are left out for now.
Sources
- UN R121: UN Regulation No. 121 (01 series) as published in the Official Journal of the EU, L 5, 8 January 2016, pp. 16-19: table 'Symbols, their illumination and colours' checked 2026-09-25
- FMVSS 101: govinfo: 49 CFR 571.101 in the Code of Federal Regulations, 1 October 2025 edition, Table 1 (pp. 329-332) and Table 2 (p. 334) as printed checked 2026-09-25
- Hyundai: 2025 Tucson (general market, English web manual) — ownersmanual.hyundai.com/full_webhelp/NX4/2025/en_GN/
- SEAT: Ateca owner's manual, UK English, edition 06.21 (model year 2022), PDF — www.seat.com/datamanual-manual/ateca/my22_w25/en-uk/ATECA_06_21_EN.pdf
Each button's page lists the exact rows, manual sections and pages it rests on, with the date each was read.