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International maritime signal flags are various flags used to communicate with ships. The principal system of flags and associated codes is the International Code of Signals . [ 1 ] Various navies have flag systems with additional flags and codes, and other flags are used in special uses, or have historical significance.
What is now the International Code of Signals was drafted in 1855 by the British Board of Trade and published in 1857 as the Commercial Code. It came in two parts: the first containing universal and international signals, and the second British signals only. Eighteen separate signal flags (see chart) were used to make over 70,000 possible messages.
The meanings of the shapes are defined by the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (ColRegs). Day shapes from ColRegs Day shapes are black in color and their sizes are determined by the ColRegs; for example, the size of the ball is not less than 0.6 metres (2.0 ft).
In 1790, Admiral Lord Howe issued a new signal book for a numerary system, using numeral flags to signal a number; the number indicated the message, not the mast from which the flags flew. Substitute flags were also instituted to indicate repeated numerals, and there was consideration of making the flags more distinct.
Naval flag signalling undoubtedly developed in antiquity in order to coordinate naval action of multiple vessels. In the Peloponnesian War (431 – 401 BCE) squadrons of Athenian galleys were described by Thucydides as engaging in coordinated maneuvers which would have required some kind of communication; [1] there is no record of how such communication was done but flags would have been the ...
A designator flag is used to indicate if a flaghoist signal is meant to be interpreted as an ICS signal or as a naval signal. The U.S. Navy uses a set of 68 flags, including flags for each letter of the alphabet and each numeral to convey messages of tactical or administrative nature. [2] [better source needed]
A diver getting ready to dive in front of an alpha flag. As a code signal the International maritime signal flag Alpha (or "Alfa", signifying the letter "A") has the meaning of "I have a diver down; keep well clear at slow speed", [1] used to indicate that the vessel has limited maneuverability, and the presence of a diver in the water around the boat.
The rank flag or distinguishing flag is the flag worn by a superior officer on their flagship or headquarters (hence the term flagship). The origins of this are from the era before radiotelegraphy and radiotelephony, when orders were given by flag signals. The flag denotes the ship which must be watched for signals designating orders. Such ...