Checkered

Checkered (pronounced chek-erd)

(1) Marked by numerous and various shifts or changes; variegated; diversified in color; alternately light and shadowed.

(2) Figuratively, changeable; inconsistent, marked by dubious episodes; suspect in character or quality, often in the forms “a checkered career”, “a checkered past” etc.  The still preferred spelling in the UK and much of the old British Empire is "chequered". 

(3) A fabric or other material marked with squares (most often in alternating black & white).

1350–1400: Check was from the Middle English chek & chekke, from the Old French eschek, eschec & eschac, from the Medieval Latin scaccus, from the Arabic شَاه‎ (šāh) (king (or check at chess); shah), from the Persian شاه‎ (šâh) (king, shah), from the Middle Persian mlkʾ & šāh, from the Old Persian xšāyaθiya (king), from the Proto-Indo-Iranian kšáyati (he rules, he has power over), ultimately from the primitive Indo-European tek- (to gain power over, gain control over).  The phrase “checkered past” appeared first in print in 1831 as a figurative use in the sense of “variegated with different qualities or events, having a character both good and bad”.  Checkered is an adjective.  Exchequer was from the Middle English escheker and eschequier, borrowed from the Anglo-French escheker and eschekier, derived from the Old French eschequier and escheccheck (chessboard, counting table).  Source was the Medieval Latin scaccarium (chess board).  The meaning with which it’s now most associated, government finances, emerged under the Norman kings of England, basis being the design of the cloth, divided in squares, covering the tables on which accounts of revenue were reckoned with counters.  These reminded all who saw them of a chess board and the name was adopted.  The English respelling with an -x- was because of the erroneous medieval belief that it originally was a Latin ex- word.

Flags in motorsport

Taking the checkered flag: Ralph Mulford (1884–1973) in a Lozier Type 51, winning the Vanderbilt Cup, Savannah, Georgia, USA, 28 November 1911.  In motorsport, the term "taking the checkered flag" means winning the race although at the conclusion of an event, the flag is displayed to all competitors as they cross the finish line for the final time.  Even in the digital age, flags continue to play a vital part in motorsport.  Despite progress, flags remain an efficient and reliable system instantly to convey information to those in visual range although in top-flight competition (such as Formula One) the bunting is now augmented by color-coded in-car display systems.  The most commonly seen flags are:

Green: Normal racing conditions apply.  The green flag is used also by staff under the control of the race director (the old "clerk of the course", a term borrowed from horse racing which donated much early terminology to the sport) in a way the drivers never see: When the cars are assembled on the grid prior to the start of an event, the race marshal posted at the back of the field will wave a green flag to indicate all vehicles are correctly placed; once the starter sees this, they are free to start the race which they do by waving a flag and while this may be green, these days it's often a national (or sub-national) flag or one with the symbol of a sponsor.    

Yellow: The hazard flag.  Its use varies according to the rules of the sanctioning body but in general: (1) it waved, it denotes a hazard on the racing surface, (2) if stationary a hazard near the racing surface and if two yellow flags are waved simultaneously, there’s a hazard (an object or person) blocking at least part of the racing surface.

Red and yellow vertical stripes: The oil flag.  It’s really the slipperiness flag because it’s used to warn of something on the surface (oil, coolant, sand, gravel, other fluids etc) which mean the track will offer less grip; despite that everybody calls it the oil flag.  Some sanctioning bodies display the flag until the hazard has cleared; others use it only for a couple of laps, the hazard beyond that point deemed "part of the track” with which the drivers are assumed to have become familiar.

Red: Stop the race.  This is usually done because a severe accident or natural conditions (weather, earthquake etc) mean it’s too dangerous to continue and, depending on the circumstances, drivers need either immediately to stop or slow to a safe speed and proceed to the pits.  Sometimes it’s used in conjunction with a yellow flag (there’s even a diagonally divided red and yellow flag for this purpose) to indicate the field should assemble for a re-start.

White: Once, the white flag was used to warn drivers an ambulance was sharing the track and as late as the 1970s, ambulances were deployed with the field still at racing speed and those for whom that sounds remarkable, should view footage of the aftermath of the horrific accident at Le Mans in 1955 to see how things used to be done without interfering with the running of the race.  Of late the white flag has come to be used in US motorsport as a component in the Green–White–Checker finish (GWC), an innovation which was a product of the sport being a content provider for television (and latterly other) feeds.  Its core rationale is to ensure races end under competitive conditions rather something anti-climatically processional under caution the caution flag.  Adopted in NASCAR, IndyCar (with variations), and other US series, the official explanation is that GWC ensures fairness while maintaining a structured approach but it’s really a device to ensure the product (the viewers) continue happily to be delivered to the customers (the advertisers).  In NASCAR the GWC is implemented with set parameters: (1) a green flag is waved to indicate the start of the final two laps (the so-called “overtime”) and (2) a white is waved to signify the final lap.  Should another caution flag be required before the white flag point is reached, the process can begin anew and this can be done as often as is possible within whatever “retries limit” rule applies on the day; should the white flag be taken, the next flag (checkered or caution) ends the race.  Other series have variations on the system, some extending laps under green or utilizing “red flag” stoppages to enable a competitive finish.

Black: The solid black flag is shown to inform a drive they should return to the pits to serve a penalty for some infringement of the rules or to have the vehicle checked because of some concern.  The black flag with an orange disc in the centre (the so-called meatball flag) is used to call a vehicle to the pits to have some mechanical defect immediately rectified.  The meatball flag, either by explicit regulation or convention, is used only when the mechanical defect presents some real or immediate risk to drivers or spectators (oil leaks, protruding bodywork etc)  

Blue: A proximity warning.  If held in a static position, it tells the driver another vehicle is closely following while if waved, it means another vehicle is attempting to overtake.  The idea is a slower car should not impede the progress of a faster one but the pattern of enforcement varies, the most common regulation being that lapped cars must yield to one attempting to pass but while this is mandated in some series, in others it remains merely advisory (although conduct can still be subject to “bad sportsmanship” rules, the ultimate on-track sanction of which is the “black flag”).  Often, the blue flag is used also at the exit from the pits to assist vehicles safely to re-join the race without disrupting those still circulating.

Checkered:  Also known as the chequered flag, the checkered flag indicates the end of a race.  Some sources suggest historically it was waved to acknowledge the race winner and held static to indicate to others the race had finished but there’s no evidence this practice was ever written into rules or even widely adopted and the checkered flag seems mostly to be waved.  The winner of a race is said to have “taken the checkered flag”.  Checkered flags are usually black and white and rendered in squares or rectangles but different color combinations have been used, sometimes to suit the needs of sponsors.  A noted innovation came in the 1980 Indianapolis 500 when two checkered flags were waved at race-end and the Indy series has adopted this as a standard.

Lindsay Lohan with fingernails in checkered flag pattern.

Various stories have been offered as the origin of the checkered flag in motorsport.  One suggests that in the horse-racing events popular at the large public picnics held during the settlement of the American mid-west during the nineteenth century, when the ladies were ready to serve lunch, they would wave large, checker-board tablecloths to inform the men food was ready and they competition should quickly be concluded.  As motorsport emerged as another amusement for men, because the early competitions were almost always held on dirt tracks, it’s said the contrasting colors of the checkerboard pattern were easier to see in a dusty environment and were thus ideal to signal the finish line.  Historians of the sport think these stories dubious on the basis of a lack of any contemporary evidence and for the some reason they’ve always been unwilling to give credence to any link with late nineteenth century bicycle racing in France.

British Admiralty Flag Chart.  

More convincing is the notion it may have been a borrowing from a naval flag signaling system and those of some admiralties did include a black (or blue) & white checkerboard to denote “Z” (ie final letter and thus the end in that sense).  It may be true or else, like many things, the checkered flag was chosen for its purpose at random.  What all agree upon is the documentary record.  The earliest known use of the checkered flag, based on the photographic record, is the one used to mark the end of the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup race in Long Island, New York.

Manufacturers used the checkered flag to convey a sense of high performance and to suggest some link (which sometimes was real) with a competition history.

The flag of Croatia

A banner used in Croatia between 925-1102 (left), the current Croatian flag adopted after independence in 1990 (centre) and the Croatian naval ensign (1990).

One of the most ancient symbols to endure in modern nation flags is the red & white checkered pattern used to this day on the flag of Croatia.  The oldest known example dates from 925 and the pattern was used (with the odd interruption) for centuries, even when the country was a non-sovereign component of supranational states such as the Habsburg Empire.  A red star was used instead when Croatia was a part of comrade Marshall Tito’s (1892-1980) Jugoslavija (Yugoslavia) between 1945-1990 but the red & white checks were restored when independence was regained in 1990.

Ivana Knoll at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Noted Instagram influencer Ms Ivana Knoll (b 1992) was a finalist in the Miss Croatia beauty contest in 2016 and for her appearances at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, chose a number of outfits using the national symbol of the red and white checkerboard, matching the home strip worn by the team.  By the standards of Instagram, the design of the hoodie she donned for Croatia's game against Morocco at the Al-Bayat stadium wasn't particularly revealing but it certainly caught the eye.  As if Gianni Infantino (b 1970, president of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA, the International Federation of Association Football) since 2016) didn't have enough to ponder, the former Miss Croatia contestant tagged FIFA in her posts, fearing perhaps the president might not be among her 600,000 Instagram followers and her strategy seems to have had the desired effect.  Although it deems dubious the design (which did cover her hair, shoulders and legs) was sufficiently demur to satisfy the local rules, it seems she posted throughout the event, undisturbed.   The guidance provided by FIFA indicated non-Qatari women didn't need to wear the abaya (the long, black robe) but tops had to cover the midriff and shoulders, and skirts, dresses or trousers must cover the knees; moreover, clothing should not be tight or reveal any cleavage.  In accordance with the rules or not, Ms Knoll proved a popular accessory for Qatari men seeking selfies.

Croatian FIFA World Cup 2022 strips, home (left) & away (right). 

On the basis of her Instagram posts, the German-born beauty (although perhaps technically in violation of some rules) had a pleasant tournament if she's had any problems, Sepp Blatter's (b 1936; FIFA president 1998-2015) lawyers may have been available.  They seem pretty good.  Paradoxically, although the impressively pneumatic Ms Knoll generated much interest in her hoodie, had she worn an all-enveloping burka in the red & white checkerboard, it might have gained even more clicks.