Everything about Flag Semaphore totally explained
Flag semaphore is a system for conveying information at a distance by means of visual signals with hand-held flags, rods, disks, paddles, or occasionally bare or gloved hands. Information is encoded by the position of the flags; it's read when the flag is in a fixed position. Semaphores were adopted and widely used (with hand-held flags replacing the mechanical arms) in the maritime world in the early 1800s. Semaphore signals were used, for example, at the
Battle of Trafalgar. This was the period in which the modern naval semaphore system was invented. This system uses hand-held
flags. It is still used during underway replenishment at sea and is acceptable for emergency communication in daylight or, using lighted wands instead of flags, at night. See also
flag signals.
Wig-wag flags
Wig-wag signalling (or
wigwagging) uses
two flags for signalling, in a method similar to semaphore, but by opening and closing the sign, the morse code equivalent of dits and dahs are used to convey the message. It was used in US Civil War times. A signal corpsman commonly stood on a platform about 6-10 feet off the gound, signalling to other units. The bright orange red and white flag made a primary target for the enemy.
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. The signalman holds one pole in each hand, and extends each arm in one of eight possible directions. Except for in the rest position, the flags can't overlap. The flags are coloured differently based on whether the signals are sent by sea or by land. At sea, the flags are coloured red and yellow (the
Oscar flag), while on land, they're white and blue (the
Papa flag).
Characters
The following semaphore characters are presented as one would face the signalman:
Image:Semaphore Ready.svg|Rest / Space
Image:Semaphore Numeric.svg|Numerals
Image:Semaphore Error.svg|Attention
Image:Semaphore Cancel.svg|Cancel
Image:Semaphore Alpha.svg|A / 1
Image:Semaphore Bravo.svg|B / 2
Image:Semaphore Charlie.svg|C / 3
Acknowledge
Image:Semaphore Delta.svg|D / 4
Image:Semaphore Echo.svg|E / 5
Image:Semaphore Foxtrot.svg|F / 6
Image:Semaphore Golf.svg|G / 7
Image:Semaphore Hotel.svg|H / 8
Image:Semaphore India.svg|I / 9
Image:Semaphore Juliet.svg|J
Letters
Image:Semaphore Kilo.svg|K / 0
Image:Semaphore Lima.svg|L
Image:Semaphore Mike.svg|M
Image:Semaphore November.svg|N
Negative
Image:Semaphore Oscar.svg|O
Image:Semaphore Papa.svg|P
Image:Semaphore Quebec.svg|Q
Image:Semaphore Romeo.svg|R
Image:Semaphore Sierra.svg|S
Image:Semaphore Tango.svg|T
Image:Semaphore Uniform.svg|U
Image:Semaphore Victor.svg|V
Image:Semaphore Whiskey.svg|W
Image:Semaphore X-ray.svg|X
Image:Semaphore Yankee.svg|Y
Image:Semaphore Zulu.svg|Z
Japanese semaphore
The
Japanese merchant marine and armed services have adapted the flag semaphore system to the
Japanese language, as shown in Japanese
here
. Because their writing system involves a
syllabary of about twice the number of characters in the
Latin alphabet, most characters take two displays of the flags to complete; others need three and a few only one.
The flags are specified as a solid white square for the left hand and a solid red one for the right. The display motions chosen are not like the "rotary dial" system used for the Latin alphabet letters and numbers; rather, the displays represent the angles of the brush strokes used in writing in the
katakana syllabary and in the order drawn.
For example, the character for "O" [オ], which is drawn first with a horizontal line from left to right, then a vertical one from top to bottom, and finally a slant between the two; follows that form and order of the arm extensions. It is the right arm, holding the red flag, which moves as a pen would, but in mirror image so that the observer sees the pattern normally. As in telegraphy, the katakana syllabary is the one used to write down the messages as they're received.
Also, the Japanese system presents the number 0 by moving flags in a circle, and those from 1 through 14 using a sort of the "rotary dial" system.
References in popular culture
An episode of
Monty Python's Flying Circus depicts a supposed dramatic production of
Wuthering Heights in flag semaphore.
In the same episode of
Monty Python's Flying Circus, they use an
aldis lamp in a parody of
Shakespeare's
Julius Caesar, with Caesar signaling, "Et tu brute!"
In the short story for kids, "The Mystery of the Seven Wrong Clocks" (published in
Alfred Hitchcock's Solve-Them-Yourself Mysteries, edited by
Robert Arthur, Jr., Random House 1963), a soon-to-be murder victim identifies his murderer using the hands of clocks set in semaphore positions.
An episode of
Due South features the use of semaphore communication between two
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers during a hostage crisis. They didn't use flags.
In the book
Winter Holiday by
Arthur Ransome, Nancy sends secret messages to the other children by means of a picture in which the people's arm positions represent semaphore letters.
In a strip, the
webcomic Sam and Fuzzy portrays one of the two titular characters, Fuzzy, using flag-based semaphore to convey a message he's been expressly (and legally) forbidden to repeat.
The
Beatles' album cover
Help! (1965), according to photographer Robert Freeman, was originally going to show the
Beatles signaling the word HELP in semaphore. However, if read according to the code, George signals an "N" or maybe an "R" or "S", John a "U", Paul a "J", and Ringo a "D", "V", or "Cancel". The images on the US album are out of order, and all of the pictures are mirror-reversed. In the UK order, and reversed, the message appears to spell "LPUS." Freeman has stated that the letters "H-E-L-P" didn't look good, graphically. Apparently "LPUS" ("help us") was used as a better-looking substitute (see Freeman,
The Beatles: a Private View, p.62).
The
peace symbol is a combination of the semaphoric letters N and D, standing for "nuclear disarmament."
In the
April 1 RFC of 2007, the
IETF proposed a way to transmit Internet traffic via semaphores, thus connecting the "
Victorian Internet" and the current-day one.
In the movie "
The Last Detail" starring Jack Nicholson and Randy Quaid, Nicholson plays a signalman in the US Navy who teaches semaphore to Quaid while escorting him to military prison. Quaid signals: "Bravo Yankee, Bravo Yankee, end of message" before attempting an escape.
In
Arthur, the class worries about whether their strict teacher will make them grow a
beard and take a test in semaphore.
In the Simpsons Admiral Nelson sends a message to Captain Skinner which reads "Skinner eat fly dolphin booger."
Further Information
Get more info on 'Flag Semaphore'.
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