All Topics  
International maritime signal flags

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

International maritime signal flags
 
 
  Topics International maritime signal flags Topic Home

The system of international maritime signal flags is a way of representing individual letters of the alphabet in signal
International Code of Signals

The International Code of Signals is a signal code to be used by merchant and naval vessels to communicate important messages about the state of a vessel and the intent of its master or commander when there are language barriers....
s to or from ship
Ship

A ship is a large watercraft that floats on water. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size. Ships may be found on lakes, seas, and rivers and they allow for a variety of activities, such as the ferry or cargo ships, fishing, cruise ship, Coast guard, and warship....
s. It is a component of the International Code of Signals
International Code of Signals

The International Code of Signals is a signal code to be used by merchant and naval vessels to communicate important messages about the state of a vessel and the intent of its master or commander when there are language barriers....
 (INTERCO).

There are various methods that the flags can be used as signals: NATO
NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization , also called the Atlantic Alliance, is a military alliance established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949....
 uses the same flags, with a few unique to warships, alone or in short sets to communicate various unclassified messages. The NATO usage generally differs from the International meanings, and therefore warships will fly the Code/Answer flag above the signal to indicate it should be read using the International meaning.

Letters
* N and C together (No and Yes) is used as a distress signal
Distress signal

A distress signal is an internationally recognized means for obtaining Helpfulness. Distress signals take the form of or are commonly made by using radio signals, displaying a visually detected item or illumination , or making an audible sound, from a distance....
.

** Also signallable on a ship's whistle using Morse code
Morse code

Morse code is a type of character encoding that transmits telegraphic information using rhythm. Morse code uses a standardized sequence of short and long elements to represent the alphanumeric, punctuation and special characters of a given message....
.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'International maritime signal flags'
Start a new discussion about 'International maritime signal flags'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The system of international maritime signal flags is a way of representing individual letters of the alphabet in signal
International Code of Signals

The International Code of Signals is a signal code to be used by merchant and naval vessels to communicate important messages about the state of a vessel and the intent of its master or commander when there are language barriers....
s to or from ship
Ship

A ship is a large watercraft that floats on water. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size. Ships may be found on lakes, seas, and rivers and they allow for a variety of activities, such as the ferry or cargo ships, fishing, cruise ship, Coast guard, and warship....
s. It is a component of the International Code of Signals
International Code of Signals

The International Code of Signals is a signal code to be used by merchant and naval vessels to communicate important messages about the state of a vessel and the intent of its master or commander when there are language barriers....
 (INTERCO).

There are various methods that the flags can be used as signals:
  • each flag spells out an alphabetic message, letter by letter.
  • individual flags have specific and standard meanings; for example, diving support vessel
    Diving support vessel

    A diving support vessel is a ship that is used as a floating base for professional diving projects.Commercial Diving Support Vessels emerged during the 1960s and 1970s when the need arose for diving operations to be performed below and around oil production platforms and associated installations in open water in the North Sea and Gulf of Me...
    s raise the "A flag" indicating their inability to move from their current location because they have a diver underwater.
  • one or more flags form a code word whose meaning can be looked up in a code book held by both parties. An example is the Popham numeric code used at the Battle of Trafalgar
    Battle of Trafalgar

    The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the United Kingdom Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy , during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
    .
  • in yacht racing
    Yacht racing

    Yacht racing is the sport of competitive yachting. There is a broad variety of kinds of races and sailboats used for racing. Much racing is done around buoys or similar marks in protected waters, while some longer offshore races cross open water....
     and dinghy racing
    Dinghy racing

    Dinghy racing is the competitive sport of dinghy sailing. Dinghy racing has been influential in developing all aspects of the modern dinghy, including hull design, sail materials and sailplan, and techniques such as planing and trapezing....
    , flags have other meanings; for example, the P flag is used as the "preparatory" flag to indicate an imminent start, and the S flag means "shortened course" (for more details see Race Signals
    Racing Rules of Sailing

    The Racing Rules of Sailing govern the conduct of yacht racing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, model boat racing, dinghy racing and virtually any other form of racing around a course with more than one vessel while powered by the wind....
    ).
NATO
NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization , also called the Atlantic Alliance, is a military alliance established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949....
 uses the same flags, with a few unique to warships, alone or in short sets to communicate various unclassified messages. The NATO usage generally differs from the International meanings, and therefore warships will fly the Code/Answer flag above the signal to indicate it should be read using the International meaning.

Letters


* N and C together (No and Yes) is used as a distress signal
Distress signal

A distress signal is an internationally recognized means for obtaining Helpfulness. Distress signals take the form of or are commonly made by using radio signals, displaying a visually detected item or illumination , or making an audible sound, from a distance....
.

** Also signallable on a ship's whistle using Morse code
Morse code

Morse code is a type of character encoding that transmits telegraphic information using rhythm. Morse code uses a standardized sequence of short and long elements to represent the alphanumeric, punctuation and special characters of a given message....
. See vessel emergency codes
Vessel emergency codes

In addition to distress signals like Mayday and pan-pan, most vessels, especially passenger ships, use some emergency signals to internally alert the crew on board, and in some cases also the passengers....
 and International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea
International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea

The International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972 are published by the International Maritime Organization , and set out the "rules of the road" to be followed by ships and other vessels at sea....
.

Numbers

Type of flag 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Allied flags (outdated)
Ics Zero
Ics One
Ics Two
Ics Three
Ics Four
Ics Five
Ics Six
Ics Seven
Ics Eight
Ics Niner
Pennant
Pennant (commissioning)

The Commissioning pennant or Masthead pennant is a pennant flown from the masthead of a warship. The pennant reflects the fact that the ship is a ship of war, and is flown until the ship is decommissioned....
s (modern)
Ics Pennant Zero
Ics Pennant One
Ics Pennant Two
Ics Pennant Three
Ics Pennant Four
Ics Pennant Five
Ics Pennant Six
Ics Pennant Seven
Ics Pennant Eight
Ics Pennant Niner


Other flags

Ics Repeat One
Ics Repeat Two
Ics Repeat Three
Ics Repeat Four
First substitute
Substitute flag

Substitute flags are part of the International maritime signal flags. Their purpose is to allow messages with duplicate characters to be signalled without the need for multiple sets of flags....
 		 Second substitute Third substitute Fourth substitute

Allied signals

Ics Answer
Ics Prepare
Ics Question
Ics Negative
Ics Designation
Code/answer (ANS) Preparative (PREP) Question (INT) Negation (NEGAT) Designation (DESIG)
Ics Corpen
Ics Turn
Ics Screen
Ics Speed
Ics Station
Course Pennant (CORPEN) Turn (TURN) Screen (SCREEN) Speed (SPEED) Station (STATION)
Ics Port
Ics Starboard
Ics Formation
Ics Division
Ics Squadron
Port (PORT) Starboard (STBD) Formation (FORM) Division (DIV) Squadron (SQUAD)
Ics Group
Ics Subdivision
Ics Emergency
Group (FLOT) Subdivision (SUBDIV) Emergency (EMERG)


See also

  • Aldis lamp
  • Character encoding
    Character encoding

    A character encoding system consists of a code that pairs a sequence of character from a given character set with something else, such as a sequence of natural numbers, octet or electrical pulses, in order to facilitate the transmission of data through telecommunication networks and/or Computer data storage of Character in compute...
  • England expects that every man will do his duty
    England expects that every man will do his duty

    "England expects that every man will do his duty" was a International maritime signal flags sent by Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson from his flagship HMS Victory as the Battle of Trafalgar was about to commence on 21 October 1805....
  • Flag semaphore
    Flag semaphore

    Modern semaphore The newer flag semaphore system uses two short poles with square flags, which a signalman holds in different positions to signal letters of the alphabet and numbers....
  • Flag signals
    Flag signals

    Flag signals can mean any of various methods of using flags or pennants to send signals:Flaghoist signalling or the flaghoist signalling system uses sets of flags and pennants to convey messages....
  • Heliograph
    Heliograph

    A Heliograph is a wireless solar telegraph that signals using Morse code flashes of sunlight reflected by a mirror. The flashes are produced by momentarily pivoting the mirror, or by interrupting the beam with a shutter....
  • NATO phonetic alphabet
    NATO phonetic alphabet

    The NATO phonetic alphabet, more formally the international radiotelephony spelling alphabet, is the most widely used spelling alphabet. Though often called "phonetic alphabets", spelling alphabets have no connection to phonetic transcription systems like the International Phonetic Alphabet....
  • Signal lamp
    Signal lamp

    Signal lamp, also called Aldis lamp, is a visual signaling device for optical communication – essentially a focused lamp which can produce a pulse of light....


External links

  • from
  • - signal flags used for the Esperanto language - the flags for the Esperanto letters with diacritical marks have the lighter color in the normal flag replaced with light green, which is not used in any normal flag.