Flag

A flag is a piece of coloured cloth flown from a pole or mast, usually for purposes of signalling or identification. Flags were initially created for signalling (as in

Bathing flags

In Australia, New Zealand, Philippines and the United Kingdom a pair of red/yellow flags is used to mark the limits of the bathing area on a beach, usually guarded by lifesavers. If the beach is closed, the poles of the flags are crossed. The flags are coloured with a red triangle and a yellow triangle making a rectangular flag, or a red rectangle over a yellow rectangle. On many Australian beaches there is a slight variation with beach condition signalling. A red flag signifies a closed beach (or, in the UK, some other danger), yellow signifies strong current or difficult swimming conditions and green represents a beach safe for general swimming. Blue flags may also be used away from the yellow-red lifesaver area to designate a zone for surfboarding and other small, non-motorised watercraft.

Related Topics:
Australia - New Zealand - Philippines - United Kingdom

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Reasons for closing the beach include:

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• no lifeguards in attendance.
• waves too strong.
• dangerous rip.
• sharks.
• tsunami.

A surf flag exists, divided into four quadrants. The top left and bottom right quadrants are black, and the remaining area is white.

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Signal flag "India" (a black circle on a yellow square) is frequently used to denote a "blackball" zone where surfboards cannot be used but other water activities are permitted.

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