New standardized beach safety flags approved.(Newsroom)

The International Life Saving Federation recently passed a new system of safety flags it hopes will help prevent beach drownings worldwide.

The ILS system, approved in February, unifies the variety of warning flags currently used at beaches around the world by matching the same colors and symbols to the same water conditions.

"There have been some variances from place to place, not only from country to country, but also within countries and within states, where different-colored flags were used to symbolize the same meaning," said Chris Brewster, chair of the United States Lifesaving Association. "The intent of the ILS was to create an international standard for all beachgoers to understand, and ultimately prevent drowning."

The International Standards for Beach Safety and Information Flags serves as a voluntary guide that encourages lifesaving agencies to use their universal standards if they plan to use warning flags at all.

The ILS started with an inventory of all the flags used in the world, which included many targeted at conditions specific only to certain geographical areas. It then narrowed the selection to those of the broadest and most frequent use to come up with eight different flags.

The biggest challenge, said Brewster, was deciding the number of flags and the degree of caution. The next obstacle was choosing the color to go with the proper warning without overly confusing beachgoers who are accustomed to the current local system.

"Once this standard is published, you're going to see a pretty broad adherence to it internationally because people have been looking for guidance all along," said Brewster. He added that a language barrier for tourists can be broken down by the simple color code of the flags, like traffic symbols.