May 1, 2005
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Flags
A lot of people these days seem to think a flag is a statement of something. Right-side up, upside down, flying high, or burning in a trash can.
Mostly, if I see someone flying a flag upside down, it just makes me think that someone doesn’t know how to fly a flag, despite that they are presumed intelligent enough to attend an institute of higher learning.
And if it’s burning, mostly likely it’s an old flag that needed disposal.
I think Russia’s new flag needs. . . something. It’s so. . . plain.
Maybe. . . a sailboat.
In Thailand, you can’t tell if someone’s hanging the flag upside down.
Good Thai Citizen
A Rebel
Flags traditionally were used for sailing vessels, because it’s easier to see a flag on a mast than it is to hear a little guy at the top of the mast yelling at the top of his lungs.
http://library.thinkquest.org/5391/flag_messages.html
For diving there are two types of flags:
DIVER FLAG RULE CLARIFICATION (as per U.S Coast Guard 1st District Special Notice to Mariners 1999)
International Code Alpha Flag: There has been some confusion over the status of the traditional sports divers’flag because of a change to the U. S. Inland Navigation Rules concerning the use of one meter high rigid replica of the International Code Flag Alpha (a blue and white flag).
The Alpha flag is to be flown on small vessels engaged in diving operations whenever these vessels are restricted in their ability to maneuver if divers are attached to the vessel. But in sports diving, where divers are usually free swimming, the alpha flag does not have to be shown and the Coast Guard encourages the continued use of the traditional sports diver flag.
Diver Down sport diver flag: The sport diver flag is an unofficial signal that, through custom, has come to be used to protect the diver in the water. It is the responsibility of the operator of a diving vessel to determine if his crafts movements are restricted. To be most effective, the sport diver flag should be exhibited on a float in the water to mark the approximate location of the diver.
Information on this page courtesy of the New Jersey Council of Diving Clubs.
