17 Referee and Assistant Referee Signals Explained: What Each Gesture and Flag Means
Referee signals are the standard gestures and flag positions, set out in the IFAB Laws of the Game, that match officials use to communicate decisions to players, benches and spectators. Each restart, card, VAR check and offside call has its own signal, and those decisions later surface as events and statistics on RubiScore match pages.
This listicle works through 17 signals in four groups: the referee's restart signals, the referee's game-management signals, the two VAR signals and the assistant referee's flags. It follows the signal diagrams in Law 5 and Law 6 of the current 2026/27 Laws of the Game, the VAR protocol and the IFAB guidelines for match officials. Match timelines, statistics and referee pages at https://rubiscore.com show how the resulting decisions are recorded.
Signals and the Whistle
The whistle and the arm work together. According to the IFAB guidelines, the whistle is needed to stop play for a free kick or penalty kick, but not to stop play for a clear goal kick, corner kick, throw-in or goal. In those clear cases, the arm signal alone carries the decision.
Referee Signals for Restarts
1. Direct Free Kick
The referee extends one arm and points in the direction the team taking the kick is attacking. The signal tells everyone which team restarts and that a goal can be scored directly from the kick.
2. Indirect Free Kick
The referee raises an arm above the head. Law 13 requires the signal to be held until the kick has been taken and the ball touches another player, goes out of play or it is clear that a goal cannot be scored directly. If the referee forgets the signal and the ball is kicked straight into the goal, the kick is retaken. Offside offences are restarted with an indirect free kick, so this signal often follows an assistant's offside flag.
3. Penalty Kick
The referee points to the penalty mark. This is one of the restarts where the whistle is required both to stop play and to restart it.
4. Corner Kick
The referee raises an arm diagonally towards the corner arc on the side where the ball went out. For a clear corner, no whistle is needed.
5. Goal Kick
The referee points down towards the defending team's goal area. As with corners, a clear goal kick is signalled without a whistle.
6. Throw-in
The referee extends an arm in the direction the team taking the throw-in is attacking. The current Law 5 diagrams include this signal, which mirrors the assistant referee's flag.
Referee Signals for Managing the Game
7. Advantage
The referee extends one or both arms forward in the direction of play; the Law 5 diagrams show both versions. The signal means an offence has been seen but play continues because the opposing team benefits. If the expected advantage does not develop at that time or within a few seconds, the referee goes back and penalises the original offence. The 2026/27 Laws also confirm that advantage can be applied when a restart is taken incorrectly and the ball is in play.
8. Yellow and Red Cards
The referee holds the card up for all to see: yellow for a caution, red for a sending-off. When advantage has been played for a cautionable or sending-off offence, the card must be shown when the ball is next out of play.
9. Five-Second Countdown
A raised open hand signals a countdown. Under the goalkeeper rule introduced for 2025/26, a goalkeeper may control the ball with the hands for up to eight seconds, and the referee visually counts down the last five with a raised hand; exceeding the limit gives the opponents a corner kick. The 2026/27 Laws extend the countdown to throw-ins and goal kicks that a team is unfairly delaying. If the restart is not taken in five seconds, the throw-in goes to the opponents, and a delayed goal kick becomes a corner kick for the other team.
VAR Signals
10. Check: Finger to the Ear
When the restart has to be delayed for a check, the referee holds a finger to the earpiece or headset and extends the other hand or arm. The VAR protocol says the signal must be maintained until the check is complete, and that it announces the referee is receiving information, which may come from the VAR or another match official. The VAR automatically checks every goal, penalty, direct red card and mistaken-identity incident, but most checks are silent and produce no signal at all.
11. Review: The TV Signal
The referee draws the outline of a television screen with both hands. It is shown when play is stopped for a review and, at the end of every review, immediately before the final decision. Subjective calls usually go to an on-field review at the pitchside monitor, while factual matters, such as offside, usually need only a VAR-only review with a single TV signal. Competitions may also have the referee publicly explain and announce decisions after a review or lengthy check. Since 2026/27, competitions can opt to let the VAR correct a clearly wrong corner-kick award if this can be done immediately, and the TV signal is required when that decision changes.
Assistant Referee Signals
12. Substitution
The assistant referee holds the flag horizontally above the head with both hands. The signal is given at the next stoppage after the fourth official or a team official has said a substitution is requested.
13. Throw-in Direction
The flag is raised at an angle and points in the direction the team taking the throw-in is attacking, with separate diagrams for the attacking and defending team. If the ball goes out far away and the direction is unclear, the assistant simply raises the flag, makes eye contact and follows the referee's signal.
14. Offside
Offside is a two-step signal. First, the assistant raises the flag vertically, using the right hand for a better line of vision. If the referee stops play, the flag then shows where the offence happened:
- pointed down at an angle for the near side of the field
- held horizontally for the middle of the field
- pointed up at an angle for the far side of the field
If the referee does not see the flag at once, it stays up until acknowledged or until the defending team clearly controls the ball. In VAR matches, the flag may be delayed only in a very clear attacking situation, and must then be raised if the attack produces a goal or a restart for the attacking team.
15. Corner Kick or Goal Kick
When the ball wholly crosses the goal line, the assistant raises the flag with the right hand to show it is out, then, if the ball went out nearby, indicates the restart. For a corner, the flag points down towards the corner flag; for a goal kick, it is held horizontally towards the goal area. When the decision is obvious, especially if the referee has already signalled, no flag is needed.
16. Foul or Misconduct
The assistant raises the flag, makes eye contact with the referee and gives it a slight wave back and forth, then points it in the direction of the free kick. Flagging is reserved for offences in the assistant's immediate vicinity or out of the referee's view, and only if the referee would not have played advantage. For an unseen foul by a defender inside the penalty area, the assistant signals, uses the electronic beep and then moves visibly down the touchline towards the corner flag; a move towards the halfway line indicates the offence was outside the area.
17. Beep Flag and Electronic Communication
The beep signal is an additional tool used only to gain the referee's attention, for example for offside, offences out of the referee's view, or tight out-of-play and goal decisions. Where an electronic communication system is used, the referee advises the assistants when to use it with, or instead of, a physical signal. Additional assistant referees use radio rather than flags and signal a goal by pointing the left arm towards the centre of the field, perpendicular to the goal line.
How These Signals Show Up in Match Data
Most match records capture the outcome of a signal rather than the signal itself, and some signals leave no trace at all.
- Free kicks and penalties. Direct free kicks and penalties usually appear as fouls committed and won; a penalty also creates its own event.
- Offsides. An offside flag that stops play becomes an indirect free kick, but it is normally counted in an offsides total rather than as a foul.
- Corners. Corner counts can now include corners that did not come from the ball crossing the goal line, such as those awarded for a goalkeeper holding the ball too long or a delayed goal kick.
- Cards. Because a card after advantage is shown at the next stoppage, the minute in a timeline can be slightly later than the offence.
- Advantage and silent checks. Neither produces an event, even though both shape what happens next.
- VAR reviews. Reviews appear through their results: a disallowed goal, a cancelled or awarded penalty, or a changed card.
On RubiScore, match timelines show events such as goals and cards by minute, match statistics carry the team totals these decisions feed into, and referee pages collect each official's card record.
Reading the Officials' Language
Most of the 17 signals fall into three kinds: those that name a restart, those that keep play moving, and those that pause the game while information is gathered. Knowing which kind a gesture belongs to tells a viewer what has been decided, who decided it and how it will appear in the record afterwards. A raised arm, a waved flag or a finger to the ear each carries a precise meaning defined by the Laws, and those meanings shape the events and statistics that follow.
