{{Short description|Daytime aid to navigation}} [[File:The Daymark, St Martins.jpg|thumb|right|Daymark on St Martin's, Isles of Scilly ]] [[File:Enslinje - Ystad-2021.jpg|thumb|Triangular daymark in the marina of Ystad, 2021]] [[File:Scharhörnbake 1898.png|thumb|upright|Scharhörn daymark in 1898]]
A '''daymark''' is a navigational aid for sailors and pilots, distinctively marked to maximize its visibility in daylight.<ref name="OED">{{cite OED|daymark |access-date=2021-10-04}}</ref>
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.<ref name=NMI>{{Cite web |title=Nautical Terms for boating and marine industry terminology |url=http://www.marineinstitute.org/nautical%20terms.htm#D |website=www.marineinstitute.org |access-date=2026-04-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031217005521/http://www.marineinstitute.org/nautical%20terms.htm#D |archive-date=2003-12-17|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Light List, Volume II, Atlantic Coast|publisher = US Government Printing Office|year = 2015|location = Washington, DC|pages = ix}}</ref> Standard signboard shapes are square, triangular, and rectangular, and standard colours are red, green, orange, yellow, and black.<ref name=NMI />
==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 * Mässkär 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.<ref>{{Cite book|title = US Chart No. 1: Symbols, Abbreviations and Terms used on Paper and Electronic Navigational Charts|publisher = Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Department of Defense National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency|year = 2013|pages = 86}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" !Paper chart !Simplified !Simplified symbol name |- |70px |70px |Square or rectangular daymark |- |70px |70px |Triangular daymark, point up |- |70px |70px |Triangular daymark, point down |- |70px |70px |Retro reflector |}
== See also == * Landmark * Lighthouse * Sea mark
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{Wiktionary inline|daymark}}
{{Lighthouses}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Daymarks Category:Navigational aids