International Code of Signals Flag Chart

Name

Date

Signal Flags
Below are some sample messages using signal flags. Decode each signal by writing the corresponding letter
beneath each flag.

Create your own short message spelling out the words with signal flags:

Signal Flags
Before radio communication ships at sea had to rely upon visual signals until they got close enough to shout to
one another. For that reason sailors have used visual signals since ancient times. The most common form of
communication was a national flag. Even today, ships identify themselves by flying their national flag. This was
particularly important during war so that ships could tell if an approaching vessel was a friend or enemy.
When more than one ship traveled together it was often important to communicate with each other without
getting close enough to talk. Flags were again useful for this. Different colored and shaped flags could have
different meanings. One flag might mean stop, another turn south, and another man overboard. As
long as the captains of each ship agreed upon what each signal would mean, they could communicate for as
far as the flags could be seen. At night and in bad weather the flags were replaced with lights or signal guns.
However, they were limited to signals that could be anticipated in advance.
Another problem was that it was hard to carry too many flags. If each flag could mean only one thing, few
messages could be communicated without dozens of different flags. This led to the development of the
combination hoist and code books. Instead of each flag having only one meaning, the flags could be hoisted
in combinations that meant different things. At first these were number codes. In 1738 a French naval officer
developed a system using three sets of flags 0-9. With only 30 flags it was possible to code 1000 different
messages. This idea was expanded by the British resulting in the Royal Navy 1799 Code Book. By 1813, after
several revisions, the British code contained 6,000 set phrases and 60,000 words. The United States Navy
developed a similar system for their warships.
Each navy would keep their code book
secret. Since flags could be seen by anyone,
it was important that only your friends knew
what you were communicating. If an enemy
ship could read your code they would know
what you were going to do before you did
it. The code book often had heavy lead
plates attached to the cover so that it could
be thrown overboard and sink if a ship was
captured. Codes were also changed regularly.
Besides fixed meaning signals, other visual
systems were developed to communicate
in ordinary language. Semaphore is a flag
system that spells out each letter in a word. A
signalman could send a message of any length
just by spelling out the letters of words. Morse
code was also developed in the 1840s. Each
letter in the code was identified with a long or
short sound on the telegraph. This system of
long and short dots and dashes was adapted
to visual communication by using a signal light Exerpt from the 1799 Signal-book for the Ships of War.
between ships. This could be seen at a much
Download the entire book as a PDF from the University of Rhode
greater distance during the day or at night.
Islands Special Collections (Paper 15):
http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/sc_pubs/15

Signal Flags, continued

pg 2 pf 2

As the number of ships on the oceans increased, merchant ships found they needed to communicate with
each other as well. The use of signal flags by ships from all over the world began in the 1800s and continues
to the present. The modern International Code of Signals consists of 40 letter, numeral, and special purpose
flags. Although modern ships have radar, GPS, and radio communications, merchant as well as military vessels
are required to carry signal flags and use the International Code of Signals as they travel the worlds oceans.

Semaphore (left) and the International Morse Code (right), and the
modern International Code of Signals is currently in use (below).