Why the red and white "Diver down" flag?

[2airishuman]

I'm not sure if it's required by most states, but Florida leads the way in having the best law on the books. The problem is one with consistency. It's hard to get it right 50 times... there should be one set of requirements.

The laws are all pretty similar.

The way I see it, the problem with the laws is that most of them (including Florida and Minnesota) impose a mandate on divers. This is because the way legislation gets passed, I think, and has nothing to do with safety. I often dive without a flag if I don't think it will improve the safety of the dive. Typically this is because I am in a lake or river that doesn't have any power boats. So far, I haven't been cited for it. Matter of time, I guess. I understand that citing divers without flags, or with the wrong kinds of flags, or not enough flags, or too far from the flag, is a common practice for revenue and sport in Florida.

Shore access is a problem everywhere and sometimes there is no reason to draw attention to a dive when the access situation is complicated. The world over there are powerful shoreline landowners who want to keep the lakes and rivers as private resources for their own use and who are able to get cities, towns, counties, etc., to restrict swimming and diving in the name of safety and liability. Never mind the state laws that preempt that sort of thing. Easier to leave the flag in the truck than set foot down the path of being an expensive test case.

 

[Storker]

In North America, The Alpha flag is a Coast Guard thing and intended for commercial diving operations.

FTFY

Take a trip across the pond, and you'll see the A flag, even on a private boat carrying recreational scuba divers. At most, you'll see the red/white flag outside dive centers.

 

[drbill]

I've had enough encounters to know that neither flag protects us 100% from boaters. Here on Catalina we have a dive park that is completely roped off with boys and warnng signs, yet boaters go right through it on occasion.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I used to fly both until an instructor from the Coast Guard Auxilliary let me know about the Alpha flag rules in the United States.

Now I just use a diver down flag large enough to be seen from a mile away. It still attracts other boats.

 

[Altamira]

Where I live, the only boaters that know what a diver down flag is are divers that own boats, the Coast Guard, and the Park Rangers. The rest of these yahoos are clueless, and a red flag with white stripe sticking out of the water means "Hey, let's go check that out."

 

[Bob DBF]

I used to fly both until an instructor from the Coast Guard Auxilliary let me know about the Alpha flag rules in the United States.

?

I just looked on their website and it says it is proper to fly the alpha flag for divers. If I fly a flag, I fly both. The charters I have been on in SoCal fly both.


Bob

 

[CuzzA]

Am I the only one that thinks a "blue and white" flag, that blends nicely with the "blue and white" ocean, white caps and sky is a poor choice to visually signal a diver below?

 

[David W Short]

I just noticed the date difference. So, the red/white flag predates the blue/white flag by 10 years.

The code flag Alpha (blue/white) was added to the signals system in 1902. The year 1972 is referring to the year in which the COLREG's were adopted as a convention by the IMO.

 

[Kharon]

Huh, strange. Thanks for the info. Seems to be different in other US-States though..? Which makes it even weirder.

Actually I believe that it is law in all US states. Certainly in every one I've been in. Some (NY for example) allow the blue & white as well as the red & white, but as I said, that one is never going to be recognized for what it is. Also, all states require the blue & white in international waters (like the St. Lawrence I would imagine).

 

[Kharon]

... Other than wanting to not hurt another person, there is no incentive for a boater to bother with following the law. ...

Why I often carry a flare gun on dives in water with a high concentration of jerks. Gets their attention. and is better than getting run over.