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checkered flag

American  

noun

  1. a flag having a pattern of black and white squares, used to signal that a car has crossed the finish line and completed its race.

  2. this signal indicating the first car to cross the finish line or the winner.


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Britain’s George Russell led a 1-2 finish at the opener in Australia, before his 19-year-old teammate from Italy, Kimi Antonelli, took the checkered flag in China and Japan.

From The Wall Street Journal Apr. 28, 2026

No active driver has won at Long Beach more often Rossi or Kirkwood, who also took the checkered flag in 2023.

From Los Angeles Times Apr. 16, 2026

But by the time they took the last checkered flag of the year, on Sunday in Abu Dhabi, it was Norris who had done just enough.

From The Wall Street Journal Dec. 7, 2025

He celebrated last week at Talladega Superspeedway in his role as co-owner of 23XI Racing when Tyler Reddick took the checkered flag.

From Seattle Times Apr. 28, 2024

A checkered flag waves and our cars speed off, zipping down virtual city streets and jumping over police cars.

From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi

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