NARRAGANSETT, R.I. — Scarborough State Beach lifeguards came to the aid of several people in distress at the beach on Wednesday. A single-red flag was raised, which meant swimmers needed to be ...

Related: How To Handle a Worst-Case Scenario In this guide, we’ll break down the most important hand signals and the most common beach warning flags lifeguards use around the world.

Other types of signal flags often seen at U.S. Coast Guard stations, harbor offices, and yacht clubs throughout the country are the Coastal Warning Display (CWD) signals, or, weather flags.

It reads: “The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.” The convention endured for decades.

The drawback to a signal flag is you have to memorize what they mean as they are so simplified. As a designer myself I know it is hard to simplify and one can easily go too far.