# 'India' flag (yellow background, black circle) meaning **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 5, 2022, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-flag-yellow-background-black-circle-meaning/972741 "2022-10-05T02:48:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-flag-yellow-background-black-circle-meaning/972741/1 "2022-10-05T02:48:22Z")
I recall [‘ **I** ndia’ flags](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0092/8949/8679/products/NauticalSignalFlagI-India_1200x.jpg?v=1653396052) being used on Southern California beaches. I think they might have been used to warn against rip tides, but I don’t remember. What did the India flag mean in this context? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-flag-yellow-background-black-circle-meaning/972741/2 "2022-10-05T02:52:41Z")
> [@](#): > > YELLOW FLAG WITH BLACK BALL > A yellow flag with a black ball will normally be posted between swimming and surfing zones. This flag also indicates that only soft surf boards can be used (i.e., no fiberglass surfboards). Check signs or ask a lifeguard for the proper zone for your activity. From here: > **[Beach Warning Flags Alert Beachgoers of Potential Water Hazards - Coronado Times](https://coronadotimes.com/news/2019/06/17/beach-warning-flags-alert-beachgoers-of-potential-water-hazards/)** > > If you see a flag at the beach and do not know what it means, ask a lifeguard for an explanation or look for an indicator key near the beach entrance or in a public area. Coronado beachgoers may have noticed purple flags at the beach recently, set... ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-flag-yellow-background-black-circle-meaning/972741/3 "2022-10-05T11:56:45Z")
Out of curiosity, what’s an “India flag”? Googling is a little tough on this one. Is that like “indicator flag” or something? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-flag-yellow-background-black-circle-meaning/972741/4 "2022-10-05T12:22:18Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > what’s an “India flag”? It represents the letter _I_ in the maritime signal flag system [International Code of Signals - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Code_of_Signals) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-flag-yellow-background-black-circle-meaning/972741/5 "2022-10-05T13:36:38Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Out of curiosity, what’s an “India flag”? [![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0092/8949/8679/products/NauticalSignalFlagI-India_1200x.jpg?v=1653396052) ](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0092/8949/8679/products/NauticalSignalFlagI-India_1200x.jpg?v=1653396052) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-flag-yellow-background-black-circle-meaning/972741/6 "2022-10-05T14:22:51Z")
Well, I know what it looks like from your first link. **Acsenray** ’s explanation is what I was looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-flag-yellow-background-black-circle-meaning/972741/7 "2022-10-05T15:13:51Z")
Surfers call them Black Ball flags. They are flown from lifeguard towers during peak season. They usually don’t go up until close to noon, so surfers can use the area when the wind is lightest. They usually come down at 4 or 5 pm. I’ve spent many a summer afternoon sitting on the beach impotently watching the most perfect waves wasted on waders, bodysurfers, and boogie boarders, hoping conditions don’t deteriorate before the lifeguard lowers the black ball. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-flag-yellow-background-black-circle-meaning/972741/8 "2022-10-05T21:16:24Z")
…Because “India” is the word used to represent the letter I in the NATO radio alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-flag-yellow-background-black-circle-meaning/972741/9 "2022-10-05T23:18:22Z")
Thank you, **Chronos** and **Acsenray**. I was looking at the “Flag of India” wikipage and couldn’t figure out why it was called the India Flag in the OP. > **[Flag of India](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_India)** > > The national flag of India, colloquially called the tricolour, is a horizontal rectangular tricolour flag of India saffron, white and India green; with the Ashoka Chakra, a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its centre. It was adopted in its present form during a meeting of the Constituent Assembly held on 22 July 1947, and it became the official flag of the Dominion of India on 15 August 1947. The flag was subsequently retained as that of the Republic of India. In India, the term "tricolour" Follow-up question: why is the flag for I in the alphabet used for surfing warnings? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-flag-yellow-background-black-circle-meaning/972741/10 "2022-10-05T23:49:46Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > why is the flag for I in the alphabet used for surfing warnings? I suspect the flag was just chosen among those available for its visibility and perhaps because the black ball represents exclusion. I believe it was Newport Beach, CA that first raised it over a lifeguard tower in the 1960s. There are several yacht clubs in Newport, and some lifeguard probably just rifled through one of many flag lockers to find one that would get people’s attention. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-flag-yellow-background-black-circle-meaning/972741/11 "2022-10-06T00:26:07Z")
Sorry for the confusion. I thought everyone knew the phonetic alphabet, and I thought the description and picture of the flag, and bolding the ‘I’ would be sufficient. Thanks for the answers. Seems to be a ‘No Surfing’ flag (except for boogie boards), rather than a rip tide flag. So… The rip tide flag is the Bravo (solid red) flag? Inappropriate dadism: If a woman is menstruating, she’s ‘flying Baker’, ‘Baker’ being the older phonetic word for ‘B’, and the Baker/Bravo flag being red. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-flag-yellow-background-black-circle-meaning/972741/12 "2022-10-06T00:32:14Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > The rip tide flag is the Bravo (solid red) flag? The red flag is for any surf that might be dangerous for all but the most experienced swimmers. Yellow is a more moderate warning and green requires the least amount of caution. Except for rip tides, the flags mostly correspond to the size of the waves.