Visitors to Beaufort may well be very familiar with the nautical flagpole along the waterfront near the live oaks just next to the Dockhouse.
You know the one, filled with colorful flags.
It looks great with a strong wind from the south and has eight flags (in addition to the national, state, and town flags).
Until a few years ago it never dawned on me that the eight flags corresponded to the eight letters in the name, Beaufort.
Just in case you are as absent-minded as I am, the flags on the nautical flagpole at the center of the waterfront do indeed spell, B-E-A-U-F-O-R-T.
Those flags were the inspiration for our Bringing Home Beaufort logo: B-H-B.
Wikipedia has a nice piece on nautical signal flags.
Google Books has an old Popular Science from 1944 with an article about how ships communicate during radio silence.
Make sure and notice the flags the next time you’re having a cool drink at the Dockhouse!
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