The Blue Flag award for beaches is an internationally recognised standard reflecting not only the water quality of the beach but also the range of facilities offered. The four official factors for a beach to achieve Blue Flag status are; Environmental Education and Information, Water Quality, Environmental Management and Safety and Services. Within these are and 32 separate criteria ranging from displaying information on water quality through to accessibility standards.
What all this means in short is that a Blue Flag beach guarantees you that the water is very clean, there is a lifeguard service and there are clean toilets / drinking water available. To a large extent the Blue Flag award can be seen as a sign of a beach being family friendly.
The number of Blue Flag beaches in Devon varies from year to year as they are assessed annually. However, even a list of beaches from a year or two back will give a pretty good indication of the overall standard.
A point worth noting about this award scheme is it tends to favour resort beaches and discriminate against the more secluded beaches. This in no way reflects the water quality of other beaches in Devon (which is generally very high), it just indicates that these beaches have a greater range of facilities.