Every year, racing events draw numerous fans and spectators to watch cars go full speed across challenging tracks, with their favorite drivers behind the wheels of the spiffiest cars. Racing sounds simple – the car who crosses the finish line first wins. But is all there is to it? What about pit stops and lap times? What are those racing flags they keep on waving?

For the newbie at racing, the flags on a track are used for signaling to drivers track or race conditions. Most popular of the flags is the checkered black and white, and this means the end of the race. Many a race car driver is eager to be the first person driving past that checkered flag.

If the chessboard looking flag is stop, the green flag signals the start of the race. It is also used in the pits to signal that the pits are open. The yellow flag, much like it stoplight counterpart, signals caution. This race flag requires drivers to slow down, and the use of stationary, waved or 2 waved flags mean different levels of caution for the drivers. The red race flag would mean that the race has been stopped, and is usually waved when conditions are too dangerous to continue.

Other race flags are instruction flags for individual drivers. A black flag with an orange circle means that the car has to return to the pits. A per-bend flag, or a flag divided diagonally across the center to white and black parts, means a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The black flag with a white cross or saltire flag signals to the driver he is no longer being scored. Blue flags with a diagonal red, orange or yellow flag informs the driver that a faster car is approaching, and during races indicates that the driver is about to be lapped.

Those are the more common racing flags that are used in car races, and the IndyCar, Nascar, and FIA races use the flags in different ways.