Flaghoist signaling is a rapid and accurate system of handling tactical and informational signals of reasonable length during daylight between ships.
Only the alphabet flags; numeral pennants; FIRST, and THIRD substitutes; and CODE/ ANSWERING pennant are used in international signaling procedure. Each alphabet flag has the name of the letter it represents, and a numeral flag takes the name of the numeral it represents.
Parts of a Flag - The fly is the length of the flag, measured from the staff to the outside edge. The hoist is the vertical width of the flag when flying free. The tabling is the double thickness of bunting-taped, bound, and stitched-at the hoist of a flag. The tail line is a short length of halyard attached to the lower part of the tabling carrying the snaphook. It serves as a spacer, separating the flags of a hoist for clearness in reading signals. The snap is a brass releasing hook, attached to the lower end of the tail line or uphaul halyard, which fits into the ring of the next succeeding flag or into the ring of the downhaul halyard. The ring is a brass circle attached to the top of the tabling or to the free end of the downhaul halyard. The ring is the receiver for the snap.
A tackline is a piece of signal halyard (about 6 feet long) with a ring at one end and a snap at the other end.
How to Read Flaghoists
The flags of a hoist are always read from the top down. When a signal is too long to fit on one halyard it requires more flags than can be made into a single hoist-the signal must be continued on another halyard. When a signal is broken into two or more hoists, it must be divided at points where there can be a natural space without affecting the meaning of the signal.
A complete signal or group of signals whether on one hoist or on two or more adjacent hoists flying at the same time-is called a display. When displays of more than one hoist are raised, the separate hoists are run up, one by one, in the correct order.
As a general rule, if a signal is too long to be shown completely on three halyards, it's better to make two or more displays from the signal. When two or more displays are used, the heading must be hoisted on a separate halyard and kept flying while successive displays are made.
When two or more hoists are flying, they are read from outboard in, or from forward aft. Flags may also be hoisted at the triatic stay. It is a line extending from the foremast to a stack or another mast. Such signals are read from forward aft. When signals are hoisted at yardarms of different heights, those at the higher yardarm are read first. When several hoists are displayed simultaneously from different points, they are read in the following order: (1) masthead, (2) triatic stay, (3) starboard yardarm, and (4) port yardarm.
Terms used in flaghoist
Close up: A hoist is close up when its top is touching the block at the point of hoist when the hoist is up as far as it will go. At the dip:
A hoist is at the dip (or dipped) when it is hoisted three-fourths of the way up toward the point of hoist.
Hauled down: A hoist is hauled down when it is returned to the deck.
Superior position: Any hoist or portion of hoist that is to be read before another hoist.
