Chequered Racing Flag

Facts about the Flag of Chequered Racing Flag

1. The origin of the black-and-white chequer in motorsport is genuinely unknown. Several competing accounts circulate, none of them well evidenced.
2. It is one of the most widely recognised flags in the world despite belonging to no country or organisation.
3. In use in motorsport since at least 1906, and now the universal signal that a race has finished.
4. The flag belongs to motorsport. It is used worldwide.
5. It was founded in the early twentieth century.
6. It is waved at the finish line to signal that the race is over.
7. The flag was adopted in 1906.
8. The design is 120 years old as of 2026.
9. Construction: Black and white chequerboard.
10. It is normally drawn to a ratio of 2:3, which makes it rectangular.
11. The flag uses 2 colours: black and white.
12. The black stands for the dark squares.
13. The white stands for the light squares.
14. Chequered pattern: Waved to signal the end of a motor race — its high contrast makes it readable at speed and at distance.
15. The earliest photographic evidence is from a 1906 Vanderbilt Cup race; the origin of the pattern itself is not documented.
16. It is filed here under Signal, Sport and Symbolic Flags, one of the categories of flag that belong to no country.