Fig. 268 is the flag used by any vessel that wishes to communicate with a coastguard station, or hoisted when one coastguard station wants to send a message to another. Thus when Beachy Head has any notification to make to the neighbouring post away down at Burling Gap, the first thing to be done is to hoist at the masthead Fig. 268. When the men on duty at Burling Gap see this they hoist the answering pennant, meaning "all right, talk away," and then the arms of the Beachy Head semaphore work vigorously, or the gay signal flags flutter in the breeze and send their message across the downs. War vessels signal to each other at night by means of the Morse system of short and long flashes,[91] and all the large steamship lines have night signals peculiar to themselves, thus the night signal of the Orient Line is red and blue lights burnt alternately. Any vessel seeing this, knows that they are dealing with this special Line and similarly report themselves, and after this due introduction proceed to dot and dash to their heart's content. The last two rows of flags on plate XXIII. are signals for pilots. These are either the two flags standing for P. and T. in the International Signal Code, a system we have yet to deal with, or it may be a single flag, the special pilot flag of each nation. Fig. 297 is the pilot flag of the Argentine Republic; Fig. 298, that of Brazil; Fig. 299, that of Ecuador. Fig. 300 is the pilot flag of Greece; 301, that of Japan; and 304, that of Spain. France, Mexico and Chili all adopt a flag like Fig. 278, a white flag with broad blue border, while Great Britain, Fig. 104, Germany, Fig. 302, Belgium, Fig. 303, Denmark, Fig. 305, Holland, Fig. 306, Sweden, Austria-Hungary, Italy, all fly the national flag of the country with a broad white border to it. Russia takes the Jack, Fig. 215, for the same purpose, and places this {135} white band around it, while the United States of America takes the star-bestrewn azure canton from the national flag, Fig. 146, and similarly surrounds it with the broad band of white. Penalties are recoverable, as they clearly should be, if any ship uses or displays signals which may be mistaken for either pilot calls or signals of distress. The United States uses flags for its weather signals at the various meteorological stations. A violent storm is prognosticated by a red flag with a black centre. A red pennant signifies "storm approaching station," while a yellow pennant signifies "call at station for special information." A plain white flag betokens fine weather and a plain blue one rain or snow, and there are various combinations of other flags that indicate direction, intensity, velocity and so forth. It is evident that this employment of flags could be made a very valuable one.