Every airplane has several different types of external lights designed for different purposes. If we take in consideration a middle-range airliner, just like Airbus A320 or Boing 737 families here we have a list of the main lights, described by guise and function.
BEACON: placed on the top and on the bottom of the fusolage in a central position and are red blinking. Beacon indicates to other pilots and ground personnel the engines are running and the airplane is about to move on the tarmac.
NAVIGATION: red light at the end of left-side wing (by watching at the airplane from the cockpit), green light at the end of the right-side wing, white light at the bottom of the tail. They are indicates the direction of the airplane to other pilots, ground personnel and tower crew.
STROBE: white flashing light placed on both end of the wings, visible up to 7 nautical miles. It flashes once per second and is useful to quickly identify an airplane in the air above all during night time.
LANDING: power head lights placed on landing gears or on the front gear and the wings root must illuminate up to 550 yards in front of the cockpit, helping pilots in seeing the surface of the runway and taxiways. These lights are also visible from 5 nautical miles and help tower crew in identifying an airplane in final approach phase.
TAXI: additional lights placed on both sides of the front landing gear. With an angle of 30/40 degrees compared to the axis of the plane these lights help pilots during taxi operations (above all during swerving) at night or in case of severe weather conditions.
LOGO: lamps placed on both stabilizer wings (the smaller ones) enlighten the tail of the airplane where the company logo is printed. They are useful for other pilots, ground personel and tower crew for a quick identification of the airplane during night time.
WINGS: lamps placed on the low portion of the fusolage or on the bottom side of each wings and normally operated during night time to enlighten engines and other important component of flying systems.
