That may be so, Gary, but American English speakers—Filipinos included—have been using “signage” since 1976 to specifically mean signs of identification, warning or direction, as opposed to the plain word “sign” that denotes “a mark having a conventional meaning and used in place of words or to represent a complex notion.” I find the distinction very useful myself considering that “sign” has at least seven distinct meanings as opposed to “signage,” which has only one, as we can see in this definition by my Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary:
Main Entry: signage
Function: noun
Date: 1976
: signs (as of identification, warning, or direction) or a system of such signs
At any rate, Gary, I’d like to welcome you warmly to the Forum! I hope to hear from you often in the discussion boards.