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Royal Navy Handbook of Signaling (1913): alpha flags

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Background

These flags were changed after end of the 1939-45 war when the alphabetical flags and numbered pennants of the International Code, and a set of numbered flags used by the United States Navy replaced the equivalent flags previously used by the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy retained some special flags and pennants until 1948 when a new set of special flags were designed so that all navies of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation would have a common set of signal flags.

NATO was formed in 1949 but many changes introduced into the Royal Navy Fleet Signal Book in 1948 were incorporated into the NATO signal books in the early 1950s. In the new 1948 Royal Navy signal book. ICS numeral pennants replaced Royal Navy numeral pennants, ICS alphabet flags replaced Royal Navy alphabet flags, US Navy numeral flags replaced Royal Nav numeral flags, some changes were made to the special flags.

The main change for NATO was a complete reorganisation of the special flags.
David Prothero, 7 July 2007, 30 October 2007