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Beach Flags (Santa Catarina, Brazil)

Last modified: 2010-04-16 by ian macdonald
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Beach Flags

At http://www.cb.sc.gov.br/ccb/dicas_seg/segpraia.htm, the Santa Catarina state government public safety official website, a classic traffic light system is described for the state beaches, managed by the State Military Police Fire Department, with an interesting addition: General beach conditions are signed by a large flag at the life guard post and specific dangers are marked locally with a (smaller) red flag reading "local perigoso" ("dangerous place") in white letters set in two lines aligned to the hoist. A photo at  http://www.cb.sc.gov.br/ccb/dicas_seg/imagem/campan3.jpg was so tortured by clumsy JPG manipulation that the flag is not readable anymore.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 17 September 2007

At http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldon/3494337230 a much better photo (“Joaquina” at Soldon’s Flickr album) shows that the lettering "Local perigoso" runs in one line at the bottom of the flag, possibly centered, indeed in bold white sans serif capitals, and at the upper hoist there’s the State Military Police Fire Department.

Brazil image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 2 March 2010

The other flags prescribed by the the SC state government are thus (my translation from http://www.cb.sc.gov.br/ccb/dicas_seg/segpraia.htm:

  • Red flag - Dangerous sea: Avoid entering the water. In this situation, the sea has big waves and very strong currents.
  • Yellow flag - Treacherous sea: Pay attention for at any moment the sea might catch you by surprise.
  • Green flag - Fair sea: Sea offering good bathing conditions. However be always careful and conscious of your own limits.
Which agrees with the generic "traffic light" system.

António Martins-Tuválkin, 17 September 2007

Detail of State Military Police Fire Department emblem

Brazil image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 2 March 2010

There is a State Military Police Fire Department in each Brazilian state (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Firefighters_Corps and http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpos_de_Bombeiros_Militares also in Portuguese). The full emblem of the Santa Catarina state firefighters (http://spf.fotolog.com/photo/63/21/118/aliinesuski/1240871137196_f.jpg) includes the central device of coiled hose, two axes, and torch, used by the federal Corpo de Bombeiros Militar (Military Fire Department) - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Corpo_de_Bombeiros_Militares.PNG; the beach condition signal flag(s) show that central device in color on red background in a round seal-like emblem with white rim with black edging and letters reading "Corpo de Bombeiros Militar" above and "Santa Catarina" below.

More information on the official site http://www.cbm.sc.gov.br and also http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpo_de_Bombeiros_Militar_de_Santa_Catarina in the Portuguese language Wikipedia.

António Martins-Tuválkin, 2 March 2010