Why are Life Jackets Orange?

by Chris Riley Updated on August 9, 2019. In kids

Orange is a great color for life jackets because it is a very bright color that you rarely find in nature. If you are trying to rescue someone who has fallen overboard, you need to be able to see them. If they are wearing a bright orange life jacket you will be better able to see them than if their life jacket were blue or green.

Here’s an experiment . . . In the picture below there are 3 orange life jackets and three blue life jackets floating in the water. How many blue life jackets can you find?

Don’t you think the orange life jackets are easier to see? That’s also why distress signals are often orange – so that they can be seen in a large body of water such as an ocean.

In case you could not find all three blue life jackets, here’s where they are:

So . . . another reason to wear your life jacket is so that you can be found!