Menghean Navy Code of Signals
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The Menghean Navy Code of Signals, previously known as the Menghean Maritime Code of Signals and abbreviated MNCS or MMNS respectively, is a system of flag signals used by the Menghean Navy from the early 20th century onward. It is similar in structure and function to the International Code of Signals, but its letters are based on the Menghean Sinmun alphabet rather than the 26-letter alphabet used in Eastern Casaterra. As such, it has a different combination of flags, some of which correspond to flags in the ICS and some of which are unique to Menghe.
Outside of Menghe, the Menghean Navy Code of Signals is also used by Polvokia's navy, which adopted it in 1968. The navy of the Republic of Innominada adopted a version of the MNCS as part of a restructuring of its forces following the Innominadan Crisis, and the Argentstani Navy uses it as well, though both use the subset of ICS flags and meanings when spelling out messages phonetically.
History
The Menghean Navy developed its first unified code of signals in 1909, after the formation of the Federative Republic of Menghe. Prior to this time, ships in the Sinyi and Namyang navies had used their own systems of signal flags, which were developed for military use only. These flag systems lacked any phonetic component, instead using combinations of colored flags to transmit specific vocabulary messages.
During the drafting of the International Code of Signals in the early 1930s, Menghe objected that the proposed set of signal flags did not suit the needs of the Menghean language. Though this complaint did not change the final form of the ICS, it did lead the Imperial Menghean Navy to request the drafting of a modified set of signal flags for Menghe. This task fell to a committee led by Ri Yong-chŏl, who opted for a compromise arrangement: letters shared by the Anglian and Sinmun alphabets would be represented by ICS flags, while ICS flags representing consonants absent in Menghean would be repurpused to represent Menghean vowels absent in Anglian. Because the simplified Sinmun alphabet chosen by Ri had 28 letters rather than 26, this still required the introduction of two new flags, which Ri's committee assigned to two uncommon vowels. A consonant repeater pennant and an MMNS code pennant ("I wish to communicate using the Menghean Maritime Code of Signals") were also adopted.
Because of the extensive similarity between the two systems, Menghean ships with a full set of MMNS flags can also communicate according to ICS rules. Foreign ships with a full set of ICS flags can send almost any message via the MMNS, though this requires the use of substitute flags. Ri's committee reasoned that this similarity would eliminate the need for ships transiting between Menghean and foreign waters to carry duplicate sets of signal flags, though guidebooks for interpreting signals would have to be duplicated.
Originally called the Menghean Maritime Code of Signals, the system was intended for use by all Menghean ships, be they military or civilian. In 1995, Menghe's civilian maritime regulatory authority formally required the use of ICS signals by civilian ships in order to facilitate communication between Menghean and foreign vessels. The Menghean Navy, however, continues to use the MNCS.