The Russian Navy Code of Signals is a collection of flaghoist signals, which is used together with semaphore alphabet for the transmission of information between the ships of the

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

and also with the shore. Its use resembles that of the signals of other navies but it is only used within the Russian fleet. For communication with foreign or civilian vessels the

International Code of Signals The International Code of Signals (INTERCO) is an international system of signals and codes for use by vessels to communicate important messages regarding safety of navigation and related matters. Signals can be sent by flaghoist, signal lamp ...

is used.Флаги военно-морского свода сигналов СССР http://www.hrono.ru/heraldicum/signalUS.htm The Russian Navy Code of Signals originates from a similar code of signals used by the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until being dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution and the declaration of ...

. It was used by the

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

and with mostly insignificant changes remains in use by the Naval fleet of the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The complete set of flags consists of 59 flags: 32 flags correspond to the letters of

Russian alphabet The Russian alphabet (, or , more traditionally) is the script used to write the Russian language. The modern Russian alphabet consists of 33 letters: twenty consonants (, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ), ten vowels (, , , , , , , , , ) ...

, 10 flags correspond to

numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

, 4 flags are substitutes and 13 have special values. The flag used by the Soviet Navy for the third substitute was based on the jack of the Imperial Russian Navy. Now that the Russian Federation is again using the old imperial jack, a new flag design is used for the third substitute.Флаги военно-морского свода сигналов Российской Федерации http://www.hrono.ru/heraldicum/signalRU.htm

The 32 Letters

The 10 Digits

The four substitutes and 13 special flags

References

External links

{{Commonscat, Russian Navy Code of Signals
Russian Centre of Vexillology and Heraldry (in Russian)

Cyrillic alphabet representations Emergency communication Naval flags Russian Navy Signal flags Soviet Navy