History of the Dive Flag and it’s Florida Connection

The familiar red and white diver down flag is almost universally recognized as a symbol of SCUBA diving. Although its primary use is on the water to signify that divers are below we see it displayed everywhere from stickers on the bumpers of cars owned by divers to large flags flown to advertise dive shops.

How did this simple design become the ubiquitous avatar for the SCUBA diving community? Driven by an obvious need the flag was an invention of two individuals with a connection to Florida.

SCUBA diving is a relatively new sport and much of the equipment we use today was created by the individual pioneers. As they pursued the sport they designed and fabricated devices to meet their needs. Over time the designs were passed on to other divers and many came into common use. The diver down flag is one of these designs.

In the Florida Panhandle just over an hour north of Panama City is the well known SCUBA diving resort Vortex Spring. This spring that was to become a Mecca for SCUBA training was purchased by Denzel  J. “Doc” Dockery and his wife Ruth in 1972. They relocated their diving business here from Michigan and together they turned Vortex Springs into the thriving dive destination we know today.

In 1949 shortly after being discharged from the Navy Doc built his first SCUBA diving rig from a design he found in Popular Mechanics Magazine.  In the early 1950s with his new wife Ruth he began to build a business in SCUBA diving based in Flint, Michigan.

Doing underwater work in the local lakes and rivers Doc looked for a way to warn boaters and keep them at a safe distance. He wanted a highly visible but distinctive design that would be unique and not mistaken for another flag.

In the Navy he was familiar with the solid red Baker flag commonly used to signal danger. He decided to use the bright red flag as the beginning and make unique modifications. At first he had Ruth sew a horizontal white stripe across the center of the flag but soon learned that this was the national flag of Austria. After some research they decided upon a diagonal white stripe from the upper left corner to the lower right corner.  Ruth did the sewing and the diver down flag we know today was born

Doc began using the flag whenever he was in the water and became an active proponent of its use in the local dive club. Ruth stayed busy at her sewing machine and kept a good supply of flags to be sold to other enthusiasts in their sport. The new diver down flag began to see much local use in Michigan but was unknown in other areas.

This all changed when in 1956 Ted Nixon a sales representative for U.S. Divers became a customer. He saw the value and began distributing the Dockery’s flags at his accounts throughout the country. Soon national magazines began to take note and the flag began to see widespread recognition.

With the help of his dive club The “Cuadro Pescadores” Doc was able to persuade the state of Michigan to officially recognize the flag and Michigan became the first state to adopt a dive flag law. Soon neighboring states began to pass similar laws and now the U.S. government and nearly all the states have dive flag laws.