What it does
Pinhead is a CC0 cartographic icon project intended for small map pins. It standardizes several public-domain sources and adds hundreds of custom symbols.
Pinhead brings cartographic symbols into a shared drawing system for small map pins. Its artwork standardizes material from collections including Maki, Temaki, Osmic and NPMap, and adds original symbols. The coverage page helps compare which concepts have been incorporated.
The vector drawings are intended to remain legible at a minimum of 15 by 15 pixels. They suit dense amenity maps and legends where the available space is small and related symbols need consistent size and direction.
The collection is free under CC0. Its public repository and website provide the artwork, with a separate usage guide describing distributions. The supplied files can be obtained without a Pinhead account. Use the standardized Pinhead version of a symbol throughout a map and its legend when consistency is the reason for choosing the set.
Strengths
- Standardized artwork brings several cartographic vocabularies into one visual system.
- The project adds substantial custom symbol coverage.
Best for
- Dense map pins and legends
- Map projects replacing a mixture of symbol sources
Sources
- Pinhead Map Icons README (Oct 27, 2026)
- Pinhead CC0 dedication (Oct 27, 2026)