The International Code of Signals (ICS) is a system of signals and codes designed to communicate important safety and navigational messages when speaking is difficult, for use by vessels to communicate important messages regarding safety of navigation and related matters. A standardized alphabet was created (see below), along with a spoken form for each one, designed to set apart similiar sounding letters (e.g. B, V and P). Each letter/numeral was assigned a flag.
To save time when signaling each flag has an assigned meaning to communicate very urgent or common messages.
When used alone O means
Man overboard
When paired in two's, flags take on more specific meanings:
U W
I wish you a pleasant voyage
Numerals appended to two flags permit for more detailed messages...
Q R U
Can I come alongside?
Three letter signals that begin with M are reserved to communicate medical emergencies.
M A
I request urgent medical advice.
To avoid having to carry multiple flags of the same signal, the ICS uses 3 substitute flags:
A substitute flag repeats the one at the indicated position.
D
Boats are not allowed to come alongside.
When in distress, signal using these flags:
N C
To begin spelling, signal this:
Y Z
The words which follow are in plain language
One practical use of the international code of signals (ICS) is that all of the messages are standardized and come in 9 languages: English, Français, Italiano, Deutsch, 日本語, Español, Norsk, русский, Ελληνικά (PDF).
Each of the nine languages has a book with equivalent messages assigned to the same code.
For example, V was assigned "I require assistance" as a coded meaning.
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This project aims to explore an HTML/CSS implementation of ICS flags. The source code of this project is published as open source; I hope you find the following resources useful:
This page was inspired by Rabbit Waves' illustrated guide to ICS, and reuses some of its content under the Creative Commons license fair use.