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A plain yellow rectangle shown by a referee as a formal caution.
Also known as: Booking
A referee raising a yellow card is cautioning a player: the offence is recorded, and a second caution in the same match means dismissal. The card carries no writing — its colour is the whole message, which is why it works across every language a crowd speaks.
Shown to communicate that a player, substitute or team official has been cautioned. The Laws of the Game specify the offences that warrant it and the consequence of a second in one match.
Introduced for the 1970 World Cup after a language misunderstanding at the 1966 tournament left players unaware they had been cautioned. The colours were taken from traffic lights.
Now used well beyond football — in hockey, handball, volleyball and elsewhere — with the same broad meaning but different local consequences.
A plain yellow rectangle, taller than it is wide, held up at arm's length with nothing written on it.
Colour is the entire distinction. Yellow is a caution and the player continues; red is a dismissal and the team plays on a player short.
Both are signals defined by the Laws of the Game for a referee to communicate a decision without speaking.