--- title: "Send secret words with the wig-wag code" published: "2026-10-15" updated: "2026-10-15" author: "Dad Field Manual editors (drafted with AI help)" time: "30 min" cost: "$0" ages: "7 and up" where: "Two people facing each other across a room, 10 to 20 feet apart." topics: ["classic-skills","indoor"] print: "https://dadfieldmanual.com/print?p=wig-wag-flag-code" url: "https://dadfieldmanual.com/plans/wig-wag-flag-code/" --- # Send secret words with the wig-wag code > Thirty minutes and a dish towel. Learn a three-motion code from 1911, spell a secret word across the room, and learn what to do today if you really need help. ## What you need - A dish towel, bandana or flag on a short stick (have) - Paper and pencil for the code chart and message (have) - A flashlight for the dark-room round (optional) (have) ## Before you start - **Clear the swing space.** The sender swings an arm to each side, so keep furniture and other people out of reach. - **No hard sticks.** Use a towel in the hand, or a flag on a short cardboard tube or a wooden spoon, not a broom handle. - **Never shine a flashlight** into anyone's eyes. ## Steps 1. **Learn the three motions** (Dad shows) Hold the flag straight up. Motion 1 is a sweep out to the sender's right and back. Motion 2 is a sweep to the left and back. Motion 3, called front, is a dip straight down and back up. 2. **Read the code chart** (Together) Write a short chart on paper. E is 1 2. T is 2. I is 1. A is 2 2. N is 1 1. O is 2 1. S is 2 1 2. Send 3 after a word. Pause briefly after each letter. 3. **Send your first letters** (Kid) The kid stands across the room and sends T, then E, then N, with a pause between letters and a 3 at the end. Dad reads the motions out loud and writes down the letters. Does it say TEN? 4. **Spell SOS** (Together) Send S, O, S: 2 1 2, 2 1, 2 1 2. Talk about what SOS means and why the letters were chosen for a call for help. 5. **Swap and send a secret word** (Together) Take turns. Each picks a short word from the chart letters, sends it and the other reads it. Keep it to E, T, I, A, N, O and S, such as SEA or TOES. 6. **Dark-room round** (Together) Turn off the light and send with a flashlight, swinging the beam right, left and down the same way. Whoever reads the word first wins. ## If it stalls - If the receiver can't tell 1 from 2, make the swings bigger and slower. - Pauses matter more than speed. A fast sender with no pauses is unreadable. - Let the kid pick the first word. They'll work harder to read their own. ## Variations - **Ages 5–6:** Just three signals: 1 for yes, 2 for no and 3 for come here. Ask yes or no questions across the room. - **Ages 7–9:** The full plan. - **Ages 10+:** Extend the chart with the rest of the alphabet from the 1911 book, and send a full sentence, with a 3 after each word. ## Sources - **1911 scouting handbook, pp. 204–206.** The 1911 book gives a wig-wag (Myer) code where each letter is a pattern of 1s and 2s, with 3 for the end of a word. It describes one position (flag upright) and three motions: right, left and down in front, with a slight pause after each letter. (checked 2026-10-15) - **Whistle and flashlight distress signals today.** The National Park Service Outdoor Emergency Plan says to stay put if you cannot retrace your steps, call 911, blow a whistle three times, take a break and blow three times again, and flash a flashlight in the SOS pattern: three quick, three slow, three quick. (checked 2026-10-15)