Easy identification of cardinal markers Cardinals warn of danger. Assuming you know the direction of North, they clearly identify the general area of danger regardless of your approach angle to them. Cardinals may come in a variety of forms but they have only 4 different designations, which are; North, South, East and West. Cardinals are usually identified by 3 sets of characteristics, which are; the arrangement of the colours yellow and black, the arrangement of 2 black cones atop the cardinal and, at night, by the lighting characteristics. North cardinals are found north of the danger area, South cardinals are south of the danger and so on. The features of cardinals Cones All cardinals feature a pair of cone shapes. These are arranged in one of four ways to indicate North, South, East or West.

Both of the cones on a North cardinal point straight up. Think of the orientation of north on most charts. Likewise, both cones on a South cardinal point straight down. The cones on a West cardinal point towards each other creating a "Waist" shape. Waist, West? East cardinals have cones which point away from each other. I remember this one simply because it's not north, south or 'waist' so, it must be the other one, East.

Colours Cardinals are further identified by combinations of yellow and black. A good rule to remember is that the cones point to the black.

A North cardinal is painted black at the top and yellow at the bottom. The cones point up and the black is at the top. A South cardinal is painted black at the bottom and yellow at the top. The cones point down and the black is at the bottom. East cardinals are painted black at the top and the bottom with yellow in between. The cones point both up and down and the black is at the top and the bottom. West cardinals are painted black in the middle with yellow at the top and the bottom. The cones point to the middle and the black is in the middle.

Lighting characteristics Imagine a clock face superimposed upon a compass with north aligned with the 12 on the clock. Now the lighting characteristics of cardinals are easy to remember. Note:- timing of flashes may not be accurate North points to the 12, the highest number on a clock face. A north cardinal flashes continuously. East aligns with 3 and an east cardinal flashes 3 times. South is aligned with 6 and a south cardinal flashes 6 times followed by one long flash. West is next to the 9 and a west cardinal flashes 9 times.

Real Cardinals It's worth pointing out that, whilst cardinals display the characteristics listed here, they do come in many physical shapes and sizes and the illustrations used above are not typical. Examples of real cardinal markers:

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