Daymark Explained

A daymark is a navigational aid for sailors and pilots, distinctively marked to maximize its visibility in daylight.^[1]

The word is also used in a more specific, technical sense to refer to a signboard or daytime identifier that is attached to a day beacon or other aid to navigation.^[2] In that sense, a daymark conveys to the mariner during daylight hours the same significance as the aid's light or reflector does at night.^[3] Standard signboard shapes are square, triangular, and rectangular, while the standard colours are red, green, orange, yellow, and black.

Notable daymarks

• Trinity House Obelisk, UK
• Kingswear Daymark, UK
• Tasku beacon tower, Finland
• Keskiniemi beacon tower, Finland
• Hiidenniemi beacon tower, Finland
• Laitakari beacon tower, Finland
• Herring Tower, Langness, Isle of Man
• Le Hocq, Jersey
• La Tour Cârrée, Jersey
• Scharhörnbake, Germany

Symbols used on US charts

Chart symbols used by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Department, 2013.^[4]

See also

• Landmark
• Lighthouse
• Sea mark

Notes and References

1. 2021-10-04.
2. Web site: Nautical Terms for boating and marine industry terminology. www.marineinstitute.org. 2017-03-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20031217005521/http://www.marineinstitute.org/nautical%20terms.htm#D. 2003-12-17. dead.
3. Book: Light List, Volume II, Atlantic Coast. US Government Printing Office. 2015. Washington, DC. ix.
4. Book: US Chart No. 1: Symbols, Abbreviations and Terms used on Paper and Electronic Navigational Charts. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Department of Defense National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 2013. 86.