The invention relates to a switching apparatus (10) for switching a load on and off, in particular a motor or the like in a vehicle, having a housing (20), an operating element (30), a switching element (40), wherein the switching element (40) can be activated by the operating element (30), and at least one switching signal for a control unit can be produced by means of the switching element (40), and the operating element (30) has a symbol element (50). The invention provides for a first optical waveguide element (60) to carry a first light (71) from at least one first light source (70) such that the symbol element (50) is uniformly illuminated.