Auto Racing - Racing Flags

Auto Racing - Racing Flags

Most people are familiar with the checkered flag used to declare the end of an auto race. Others who know a bit about racing know that a yellow flag means "caution". What most people don't know, however, is that there are many other racing flags that are used in auto racing and that each of them conveys a very specific meaning to the drivers on the track. That's the real point: these flags are waved for the benefit of the drivers, not the crowd. Although most, if not all, drivers are in communication with their teams via radio, the tradition of using flags to advise drivers has carried on and has become an integral part of auto racing.

The checkered flag, though the most well known, has unclear origins. It may have first been used to declare the winner of the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup race, though some sources state that it was the 1905 or 1906 race and not 1904. Others refer to horse racing of the mid nineteenth century that customarily were followed by a large communal meal. The waving of a tablecloth - typical red and white checked - announced that dinner, as it were, was served.

The yellow flag is waved when there has been an accident or a spill of fuel or oil on the track. Under a yellow flag, no passing is allowed and all cars should slow down. Sometimes a red and yellow vertically striped flag is used to indicate a "surface" problem such as debris on the track; if so, the same procedures are followed as when a plain yellow flag is waved. Drivers are given the all clear to race again when a green flag is flown in place of yellow, unless the damage is so great that the race needs to be stopped. Waving a red flag indicates the stoppage of the race and alerts drivers to return to their pit areas. The flying of a black flag is meant as a signal to a specific driver that for whatever reason, they have been disqualified from the race. The driver's car number is posted alongside or just beneath the black flag. The waving of a white flag tells all drivers that the race has just one more lap until the finish.

Other flags are rarely used but are officially listed with Formula One, NASCAR and the IRL:

• A blue flag, sometimes with a yellow diagonal stripe, means that a car is approaching quickly from behind.

• A white flag with a red cross indicates the need for an ambulance, or states that an ambulance is on the course.

• A flag divided diagonally in black and white is flown when a driver is being penalized for un-sportsmanlike conduct, either on the track or by starting a fight after leaving his car.

• A black flag with an orange circle, sometimes called a "meatball flag", is flown when there is a mechanical problem with one or more cars that has affected race conditions.

It's said that one can't tell the players without a program, but knowing the meaning of auto racing's various colored flags can help onlookers determine what kind of program the other players have to follow.