Cemetery symbol
A dashed outline with Cem or a small cross inside marks a cemetery on a USGS topographic map.
Easily confused with
How to read it
The USGS symbol sheet draws a cemetery as an outline with Cem or a cross inside, or as a small square where the cemetery is too small to outline. Natural Resources Canada’s legend has a cemetery symbol of its own.
Also searched as: Cem on a map, cross on a topographic map, graveyard symbol.
These pages describe what each symbol on a map shows. They are not navigation instructions: the map’s own legend says what each of its symbols means, and symbols differ between map series and editions.
Look-alikes
A small black square with a cross on top is a house of worship, not a cemetery: see Building symbol. A cross without an outline, beside a number, is a Spot elevation or a Benchmark symbol.
Read next
- Next in Topographic map symbolsMine symbol (crossed picks)Two crossed picks mark a quarry or open pit mine on a USGS topographic map. A Y shape on its side is a mine tunnel, a small half-filled square a mine shaft, and a single X a prospect.
- The same shape in Greek lettersQuantum circuit gate symbols (H, X, CNOT, measurement)The symbols of a quantum circuit diagram: each horizontal line is a qubit, a box with a letter is a gate (H for Hadamard, X, Y, Z, S, T), a dot joined by a line to ⊕ is a controlled-NOT, and a box with a meter is a measurement.
More topographic map symbols
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with crosses, letters and numbers or squares and rectangles.
Sources
- Topographic Map Symbols, USGS General Information Product (first posted 2005), U.S. Geological Survey, Buildings and related features
- Toporama Legend, Edition 1.2, 2013 (after the NTS 1:50,000 standards and specifications), Natural Resources Canada, Legend
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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