Football Officials Signaled Fouls With Horns. The NFL Threw Its First Penalty Flag In 1948
Officials once signaled fouls with horns and whistles. The NFL threw its first penalty flag in 1948 and switched from white flags to gold in 1965.
Before the penalty flag, football officials signaled fouls with horns and whistles. Youngstown College coach Dike Beede wanted a signal players would see instead of hear. His wife Irma sewed the first flags, with fishing weights in the corners, and they were first thrown on October 17, 1941, in Youngstown's game against Oklahoma City University.
The NFL's first flag
According to Football Zebras, the first penalty flag in an NFL game was thrown on September 17, 1948, when the Green Bay Packers played the Boston Yanks at Fenway Park. The two teams were penalized 22 times for 215 yards.
From white to gold
The league settled on white flags, which became confusing among the other white items on the field. In 1965 the NFL switched to the gold flag it still uses.
Quick answers
- Who invented the penalty flag?
- Youngstown College coach Dike Beede. His wife Irma sewed the first flags in 1941.
- When did the NFL start using penalty flags?
- In 1948. The first one was thrown in a game between the Packers and the Boston Yanks on September 17, 1948.
- Why are NFL penalty flags yellow?
- The NFL used white flags until 1965, when it switched to gold because white flags were hard to pick out among other white items on the field.
Sources
- NFHS, 75 Years Later: The Inspiration Behind the Penalty Flag (2016)
- Football Zebras, Golden anniversary of the gold penalty flag (2015)
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