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Two handheld flags whose angles spell letters, one at a time.
Also known as: Semaphore, Person holding two flags at angles, Flag alphabet
Nothing is encoded in the flags themselves — they are just visible. The letter is in the pair of arm angles, taken from eight positions at forty-five degree intervals, which is why semaphore is read as a clock face.
An alphabet in which each letter is a distinct pair of arm positions, each arm held at one of eight angles spaced forty-five degrees apart, with a flag in each hand to make the angle visible at distance.
Contexts: Navigation
The flags carry no information. They are red-and-yellow at sea and red-and-white ashore purely for contrast against the background, and the message is entirely in the geometry.
A frequent misreading: semaphore is a positional alphabet, not a set of flags with meanings.
Largely superseded by radio, and retained chiefly for close-range signalling where radio silence is required and for ceremonial and scouting use.
The nuclear disarmament symbol was designed in 1958 by superimposing the semaphore positions for N and D, which is a documented derivation rather than a coincidence of shape.
1958
A standing figure holding a small square flag in each hand, the arms straight and held at fixed angles — down, diagonal, horizontal or raised.
The peace symbol superimposes the semaphore positions for N and D.