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A ring with four bands, marking a throwable buoyancy ring and its line.
Also known as: Life ring symbol, Life belt sign, Ring buoy symbol, Lifebuoy and line sign
The lifebuoy symbol is a ring divided into four bands, marking where a throwable buoyancy ring is kept. Where the sign shows a line attached to the ring, that is not decoration: a buoyant line is stowed with the buoy so that somebody in the water can be pulled in rather than merely kept afloat. The mark is found on ships, on harbour walls, at reservoirs and beside swimming pools, and it is a stowage marker rather than an instruction.
Marks where a throwable buoyancy ring is stowed, and belongs to the same safe-condition class as the other life-saving appliance signs.
Contexts: Public information, Navigation
Says whether a line is stowed with the ring. A ring drawn with a line is a lifebuoy with a buoyant rescue line, which lets a rescuer recover the casualty; a ring drawn alone keeps somebody afloat where they are.
Contexts: Public information, Navigation
Is found far inland as well as at sea — on canal towpaths, reservoir edges, dock walls and beside swimming pools — because drowning risk rather than salt water is what puts the equipment there.
Contexts: Public information, Navigation
A thick ring drawn as a circle with a hole in the middle, divided into four equal bands around its circumference, sometimes with a line curling away from one side.
Both mark life-saving appliance stowages.