The (International) Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, commonly known as the NATO phonetic alphabet, is the most commonly used spelling alphabet around the world.

The 26 code words correspond to 26 letters one by one. They are: Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu. And each letter has a corresponding signal flag representing a message. Between ships at sea, signal flags are used to stand for letters in order to spell out words.

When this flag for letter G appears alone on board a ship, it means “I require a pilot”.

As for other three, “I require medical assistance” is the message for letter W, “Affirmative / Yes” is for letter C, “You should stop your vessel instantly” is for letter L.

More Info: www.nomadsailing.co.uk