ABSTRACT
Some sports still rely on the use of flags as a means of relaying information, for example Soccer and Rugby Union, the start of a horse race and as a warning to motor racing drivers. Due to the narrowed focus of attention of competitors and the physical constraints that may be imposed on them, the attention capturing properties of the signal will be paramount to its success. However, the modern day motor racing environment contains many visual cues that compete with the marshal’s flags. When this is combined with the need to provide an increasingly distant position, from which marshals can safely operate, suggests that the flag may have lost some of its attention-demanding value, and can result in signals being missed. The flag subtended 0.38 degrees of visual range and the light 0.11 degrees, making the light a significantly smaller target than the flag, which also moved spatially as well as temporally.
