Sign Regulations in Delaware (2026)
14 rules on the books across Delaware, 4 cities and counties. Select a rule to read the full details.
Severity: Few Restrictions · Light Restrictions · Some Restrictions · Significant Restrictions · Heavy Restrictions
Political Signs
Rules for posting political campaign signs on your property, including size limits, how early you can put them up, and when they must come down.
Delaware: statewide
StatewideSome RestrictionsDelaware protects political speech through the First Amendment but prohibits all signs, including political ones…
Read full rule →Kent County
Some RestrictionsKent County exempts political signs from its sign-permit process, but caps them at 32 square feet, bars illumination…
Read full rule →New Castle County
Light RestrictionsNew Castle County caps noncommercial ideological, religious, and political signs at 32 square feet and allows them in…
Read full rule →Holiday Displays
Rules for seasonal decorations, lights, inflatables, and lawn displays, including the sign-permit exemptions most codes give them and any limits on timing, size, or placement.
New Castle County
Heavy RestrictionsNew Castle County's Unified Development Code bans balloons and other air- or gas-filled figures outright as signs in…
Read full rule →Sussex County
Few RestrictionsSussex County exempts holiday decorations from its sign permit system entirely. § 115-160B(10) lists "special…
Read full rule →Digital Billboards
Rules governing digital and electronic billboards, including size limits, brightness and dwell-time standards, and the ongoing legal fight in cities like LA.
Kent County
Significant RestrictionsKent County requires 2,500 feet between two electronic variable message billboards and 500 feet from any static…
Read full rule →New Castle County
Significant RestrictionsNew Castle County limits digital billboards to the I-95, I-295, I-495 and US-13 corridors, caps their brightness, and…
Read full rule →Sussex County
Significant RestrictionsSussex County lets off-premises digital billboards operate only by special use exception in select commercial and…
Read full rule →Wilmington
Significant RestrictionsWilmington prohibits changing, flashing, and illuminated digital signs in residential zoning districts, with a narrow…
Read full rule →Window Signs
Limits on the percentage of window area that may be covered by signs in storefronts, including transparency rules for safety visibility into businesses.
Wilmington
Some RestrictionsOn the Market Street Mall, permanent interior window signs are capped at 10% of the display window area, and temporary…
Read full rule →New Castle County
Light RestrictionsWindow signs are not "signs" under New Castle County's Unified Development Code: Section 40.06.020 excludes interior…
Read full rule →Freeway-Facing Signs
Restrictions on commercial signs visible from freeways, including height, illumination, and outdoor advertising act compliance.
Kent County
Significant RestrictionsBillboards in Kent County's industrial districts are confined to divided highways, capped at 288 square feet and 35…
Read full rule →New Castle County
Significant RestrictionsNew Castle County bans electronic off-premises billboards facing freeways everywhere except I-95, I-295, I-495 and a…
Read full rule →Sussex County
Significant RestrictionsOff-premises signs facing Sussex County's busiest roads, those with four or more travel lanes, get the county's largest…
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