For more than 150 years, the International Maritime Flag System was used by sailors and shipment to send signals between vessels and other structures on the shore. In 1857, the British Board of Trade provided the International Code of Signals to allow maritime communications. The original Code featured 18 signal flags, which allowed sailors to send as many as 17,000 messages. In 1932, the Code was develop to feature six more languages, namely, German, Italian, French, Spanish, Norwegian and Japanese. In 1969, Russian and Greek were also included as well as each of the alpha-numeric nautical flags. These were given meanings under the International Code of Signals. Aside from allowing messages to be sent more efficiently, signal flags are currently used for various ship-related occasions. Sailors feature the flags from one end to the next and display these in a bow-to-stern manner.
The Colors and Meanings
Nautical flags feature various shapes, colors and symbols. These may be featured independently or as a group and may also come in various languages. The flags have 26 square banners for each letter of the alphabet as well as 10 numeral pendants. The flag colors were chosen because these can easily be seen anywhere. The colors are black, white, blue and red.
Signals using only one flag mean common or emergency signals. Signals that use two flags are usually for maneuvering and sending out distress messages. Signs that use three flags are for directions, standard times, general code, punctuation and relative bearings, among others. Signals that use four flags feature geographical signals and ship names. There are also five-flag signals that feature the ship’s position and the current time. Six flags are for pointing the coordinates.Labels: custom flag, custom flag maker, custom flag. personalized flag, nautical flag
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The Flagman
