ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Semaphore Flag Signaling System

Imagine you're playing a game of "Marco Polo" in a big swimming pool with your friends. When you say "Marco" your friends say "Polo" so you can try to find them. But what if you're playing this game with someone who is too far away for you to hear?

That's where semaphore flag signaling comes in! It's a way to communicate over long distances using two flags (like big handkerchiefs that you wave).

Each flag can be in one of two positions: up or down. When both flags are up, that means "I'm ready to send a message!" When both flags are down, that means "I'm done sending my message."

But if one flag is up and the other is down, that gives us a code for a letter of the alphabet! The exact code depends on which flag is up and which is down. For example, if the left flag is up and the right flag is down, that means the letter "A." If the left flag is down and the right flag is up, that means the letter "N."

So if you were playing "Marco Polo" with someone far away and you needed to tell them something, you could use semaphore flags to send them a message. It might be something like "P-O-O-L C-L-O-S-E-D!" (That's the letter code for each letter of "POOL CLOSED.")

The semaphore flag signaling system was used a long time ago by people like sailors and soldiers who needed to communicate over long distances and didn't have modern technology like cell phones or walkie-talkies. It's not used as much anymore, but it's still a really cool way to send messages!