Flags are an excellent way for people on two boats to communicate with each other if they don’t have radio or cannot use it for some reason. The code is international, which means that even if you cannot understand the language spoken by those on the other boat, you can still both make your messages known.
Flags can be read in two different ways. There is a different flag for each letter of the alphabet, so words can be spelled out. The boat to which the message is directed must reply or acknowledge that they have understood the message, so they use their own flags to signal this. This takes a lot of flags and is a slow process, as each must wait until they are sure the other has actually seen and understood what each set of flags has spelled out. So while it can be useful in certain situations, another way had to be devised for those times when speed was of the essence.
So each flag has also been assigned a certain abbreviated message. Sailors can hoist one; two or three flags and the meaning can be quite lengthy, yet read quickly and easily by others. For instance, those two flags for the letters M and Y when flown together mean “It is dangerous to stop.” This meaning can then be made more specific with the addition of one other flag, that for the letter I, which would then change the meaning to “It is dangerous to remain in present position.”
Some of the flags are rectangles, while others are rectangular with an inverted V cut out of the free end. A solid red pennant like this stands for the letter “B”, but has the designation, “Dangerous Cargo Aboard” if flown on its own.
A rectangular flag in blue with two horizontal, yellow strips above and below means the letter “D”, but its phrase designation is “Keep Clear.” The yellow rectangle with a black dot in the center means, “I am changing to port”, but its letter is “I”.
A plain yellow rectangle has a rather longer phrase meaning “My vessel is ‘healthy’ and I request permission to enter and use a foreign port.” Its letter is “Q”, but just think how many pennants would be needed to spell that phrase out.
In addition, when spelling out a sentence or phrase, if there is a word with a double letter such as the double ‘t’ in ‘letter’, then another pennant is used to indicate that it must be repeated. This is a white triangle with a horizontal, black stripe along the center.
The use of flags is interesting and learning to read them is a handy skill for any boater to learn.
I hope this has been an informative beginning to learning about marine code flags. There are many sources available to learn all about them and their use.
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