Flags for David Judah: The International Code

DAVID BLACKWOOD: THE INTERNATIONAL CODE

To honour my father, Captain Edward Bishop Blackwood (1910-1995)

Joining the Canadian Confederation in 1949 posed a problem for the master mariners of Newfoundland. They were now required to meet Standard Regulations of the Canadian Department of Transport in Ottawa.

Generations of Blackwood’s had navigated the ice filled waters of the Labrador Sea in schooners and commanded ships searching for seals in the North Atlantic. These veteran seamen were now required to fill out applications and write examinations in order to obtain their masters “ticket”.

There was a period of grace but by 1950 my father set about to prepare himself for this ordeal. Part of the Federal Government exam included the traditional flag signal system known as the International Code.  

To learn International Code my father created a complete set of flags from playing cards. I remember each flag being carefully drawn in pencil on the blank inside surfaces of cereal box cardboard. Wax crayons were used to give each flag its distinctive pattern of colour. The reverse sides were marked with the corresponding letter for each flag, from A to Z and the numerals 1 -10. 

Having spent summers with my father aboard the schooner Flora S. Nickerson I had already learned to “read” the compass and manage the helm in the wheelhouse. It was now suggested that I should add the International Code and be prepared for “when the times comes”.  

Flags were very much apart of my Newfoundland childhood. In Bonavista North they were strung out to celebrate every special event, important arrivals and departures. Flag’s were flown (and guns fired) to welcome political candidates, to indicate meetings and concerts, to signal the hauling of a house. Every family home owned a flagpole and a death in the community would result in hundreds of flags flown at half mast as a sign of respect for the deceased.  

David Blackwood
Port Hope 1998

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