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A swimming figure in a red circle with a diagonal bar.
Also known as: No swimming sign, Swimming prohibited symbol, No bathing sign
The no swimming symbol is a prohibition sign: a swimming figure inside a red ring crossed by a diagonal bar. It is put up where the hazard is generally not visible from the bank — cold water, undertow, submerged machinery, weed, sudden depth, water quality or boat traffic — which is why the sign carries no explanation and why ignoring it on the grounds that the water looks calm is the specific mistake it exists to prevent.
Prohibits swimming, and follows the standard prohibition grammar: a red ring with a diagonal bar over a black pictogram of the forbidden activity.
Contexts: Public information, Navigation
Marks hazards that are usually invisible from the bank — cold shock, undertow, submerged structures, weed, sudden depth changes, water quality, boat traffic — which is why the sign gives no reason and why calm-looking water is not evidence against it.
Contexts: Public information, Navigation
A figure swimming across a pair of wavy lines, enclosed in a ring with a diagonal bar running from the upper left to the lower right across it.
Both are prohibition signs using the same ring and bar.