Flag semaphore

Signal with your arms. The camera reads you.

Hold the flags (or just your arms) in a letter position in front of your camera. The page recognises your arm angles and decodes the letter — no app to install, and your video never leaves your device.

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Semaphore alphabet

Reader’s view shows the signaller facing you — this is how you read a signal. Your view is a mirror image — copy it like a mirror when you practise.

Tips for the camera

  • Stand 2–3 metres from the camera so your head, both hands and flags are in the picture.
  • Face the camera squarely, keep your arms straight and stop exactly on the 45° positions.
  • Use good light and a plain background. Avoid standing against a bright window.
  • Hold each letter still for about a second until the yellow bar fills up.
  • For a double letter (like the EE in JAMBOREE), drop to rest for a moment, then signal it again.
  • Phone on a table? Use the back camera and let a friend signal — just like a real signalling station.

Special signs

  • Rest / space: both flags down and crossed in front of your legs. Hold rest longer to end a word.
  • Numerals: Numbers follow. Then A=1, B=2 … I=9, K=0. J switches back to letters.
  • Cancel: Error: cancel the last letter.

Semaphore is read by its flag positions. The camera reads the angle of each arm from shoulder to hand, in steps of 45°.