What does yellow and purple flags mean on the beach?

Yellow flag is medium hazard meaning moderate surf and/or currents. Green flag is low hazard meaning calm conditions, exercise caution. Purple flag means dangerous marine life spotted.

What does a yellow and purple flag mean?

A yellow flag means rough waves and moderate rip currents. … A purple flag is flown when dangerous marine life has been spotted. Dangerous marine life could mean anything from jellyfish to sharks and swimmers should use extreme caution keeping a close watch on their surroundings.

What are purple flags on the beach?

PURPLE FLAGS

Stingrays, jellyfish and other dangerous marine life can turn a fun day at the beach into an unpleasant day at the hospital — or worse. When potentially dangerous ocean animals have been spotted, you’ll see a purple flag. These flags fly either on their own or with other colored flags.

What do the different flag colors mean on the beach?

Red Flag: High Hazard: Rough conditions such as strong surf and/or currents are present. All swimmers are discouraged from entering the water. … Purple Flag: Dangerous marine life present: Marine pests like jellyfish, algae, etc. have been reported. This flag indicates that you should swim at your own risk.

What does yellow mean on the beach?

When ocean conditions are rough, but not life-threatening, you might see an yellow flag on the beach. A yellow flag indicates potentially high surf or dangerous currents and undertows, and means that swimmers should exercise extreme caution.

What color flag means sharks?

A purple flag means that dangerous wildlife, such as jellyfish or sharks, are present in the area.

Does purple flag mean sharks?

Does a purple flag mean sharks? … The purple flag can indicate the presence of any type of dangerous marine life including but not limited to high concentrations of jellyfish, sea lice, stingrays, harmful algae bloom, portuguese man o’ war, and sharks.

Why are purple flags so rare?

Actually the answer is quite simple. Purple was just too expensive. … More than 10,000 snails were needed to create just one gram of purple, not to mention a lot of work went into producing the dye, which made purple dye so expensive. Since only wealthy rulers could afford to buy and wear the color.

What is the purple flag?

Purple is a color of royalty and anyone would expect it to dominate most flags. However, only two national flags have purple on them, Dominica and Nicaragua.

Country Flags With Purple.
Rank Country Flags With Purple
1 Dominica
2 Nicaragua

What does the purple flag mean at Orange Beach?

Orange Beach has upgraded to purple and single red flags due to the presence of Portuguese man o’ war. A purple flag signifies the presence of dangerous marine life. One red flag means that the surf is high or there are strong currents, or both.


What does a solid purple flag mean?

Purple flag days are a tradition on Block Island. When the American flag is replaced by a solid purple one on the flagpole located in the middle of Old Harbor, it means that winds are gusting so high that the boats aren’t running. It also means everyone’s staying, and no one is coming, at least by ferry.

What do black flags mean at the beach?

Black means the conditions of the sea are extremely dangerous—do not swim or enter the water. If you’d like to avoid the possibility of an incident occurring, please, do not swim. If you’re ever unsure of the condition of a beach, go to the lifeguard stand and ask. The sea and the weather are unpredictable.

What do yellow flags mean?

YELLOW – Gas, Oil, Steam Petroleum or Gaseous Materials. ORANGE – Communication, Cable TV, Alarm or Signal Lines, Cables or Conduit. BLUE – Water, Irrigation and Slurry Lines. GREEN – Sewers and Drain Lines.

What do red and blue flags mean at the beach?

Knowing what the flags mean can help keep you safe. Dark blue or purple colored flags indicate that ocean animals that are potentially dangerous have been spotted in the area. … Red flags are serious warnings. One flag indicates that dangerous currents are present, the surf is high, or both.

What does a solid yellow flag mean?

Medical Definition of quarantine flag

: a yellow flag hoisted by all ships to request pratique on entering a harbor, by a ship to show that it has contagious or infectious disease aboard, or by a ship that has been quarantined. — called also yellow flag, yellow jack.