Why are there 26 flags for letters on boats, when each flag has a meaning?
Why don’t they just either spell out every word, like morse code? Could they get rid of the flags for letters, since they can communicate with the phrases on the flags themselves?
Why don’t they just either spell out every word, like morse code? Could they get rid of the flags for letters, since they can communicate with the phrases on the flags themselves?
EDIT: Why dont they just hang flags with letters on them if they are just going to spell out words with them?
2 Responses
desshitzu
28 Feb 2010
Daniel P
28 Feb 2010
Beacuse with 26 different messages most things that are most likely to be said over a flag at sea would fall under one of the 26 categories.
If trying to get a message across such as using the letter J which stands for "I am on fire and have dangerous cargo on board: keep well clear of me", or "I am leaking dangerous cargo", would take way to long to spell out using each individual letter by in which time the ship being alerted may have got too close.
If something specific needed to be said such as names then they would use each flag collectively to form a word.
because it would take far too long to send a message by spelling every word letter by letter (flag by flag). And beseides, how would you signal a space between words?????