penalty flag
Referee's thrown signal
A penalty flag is a weighted yellow cloth thrown by referees in American football to signal a rule violation.
Officials toss the flag onto the field where the infraction occurred, then announce the penalty after the play ends.
The term extends figuratively to any official objection or warning: The audit raised penalty flags on several expense reports.
- yellowHue between green and orange
- refereeSports rule enforcer
- foulOffensive or illegal
- personal foulIllegal player contact
- infractionMinor rule breach
whistle · offsides · false start · holding · pass interference · illegal motion · interference · NFL · gridiron · official · toss · violation · unsportsmanlike · roughing the passer · clipping · illegal · challenge · instant replay
- football officiatingreferee, false start, offside, offsides, holding
- referee signalswhistle, hand signal, yellow card, red card, start signal
- referee gearwhistle, cards, red card, yellow card, stopwatch
- sports traditionstailgating, huddle, seventh inning stretch, awards banquet, team cheer
penalty flagtouchdown
Six-point gridiron play
big play · first down · interception · sack · field goal
penalty, flag, penal, penalize, penalized, penalizing, penalization, penalties, flags