--- title: "Spell your name in semaphore flags" published: "2026-10-15" updated: "2026-10-15" author: "Dad Field Manual editors (drafted with AI help)" time: "40 min" cost: "$0" ages: "7 and up" where: "Two people facing each other 15 to 30 feet apart." topics: ["classic-skills","indoor"] print: "https://dadfieldmanual.com/print?p=semaphore-flag-letters" url: "https://dadfieldmanual.com/plans/semaphore-flag-letters/" --- # Spell your name in semaphore flags > Thirty minutes, two paper flags and a printed chart. Learn how the letters are grouped, then spell your names across the yard. ## What you need - A printed semaphore chart (the 1911 book's diagram on p. 207 is free online) (free) - Two flags: a dish towel or square of paper taped to a cardboard tube (have) - Paper and pencil to write down what you read (have) ## Before you start - **Soft flags only.** Use cloth or paper on a cardboard tube, not a stick. Arms swing wide, and eyes are easy to poke. - **Clear the space** around the sender so arms can swing without hitting anything or anyone. ## Steps 1. **Print the chart** (Dad) Print the semaphore diagram from the free 1911 book (page 207) or any semaphore chart. Show how the arms point to clock-face positions. 2. **Learn the groups** (Together) The 1911 book groups the letters. A to G use one arm, moving one step at a time around the circle. For H to N, the right arm stays at the A position and the left arm moves on. For O to S, the right arm stays at the B position. 3. **Practice the first letters** (Kid) Call out letters from the chart and have the kid make them with the flags. Start with letters in their name. 4. **Send a name** (Kid) The sender faces the reader and spells a name slowly, holding each letter still. The reader says each letter out loud while Dad writes it down. 5. **Ask for a repeat** (Together) In 1911, if a word did not make sense, the reader raised both arms straight out to the sides (the letter R) to ask for it again. Try it on a garbled word. 6. **Swap places** (Together) Trade roles, then each send a whole word. Count how many letters the reader gets right the first time. ## If it stalls - If the reader keeps missing letters, the sender is probably moving too fast. Hold each position for a full breath. - Letters mirror left and right. Remember the sender and the reader see the flags from opposite sides. - Teach three or four letters at a time. The full alphabet is a few evenings' work. ## Variations - **Ages 5–6:** Just the first four letters of the alphabet, with one arm. Hold up a flag and have the kid guess. - **Ages 7–9:** The first three groups and each other's first names. - **Ages 10+:** Add the rest of the chart, then send a sentence across the yard. - **Rain:** Do it across the living room. - **Wind:** Use paper flags on tubes, not towels, which whip around. ## Sources - **1911 scouting handbook, pp. 206–208.** The 1911 book explains how to learn semaphore by grouping letters (A to G with one arm, H to N with the right arm at A, O to S with the right arm at B, and so on) and says the sender must face the station being signaled. It shows the positions in a diagram on p. 207. (checked 2026-10-15) - **Calling for help outdoors today.** The National Park Service Outdoor Emergency Plan says to call 911 if you cannot retrace your steps, stay put, blow a whistle three times and repeat after a break, and flash a flashlight in the SOS pattern. (checked 2026-10-15)