Quick answer
Hotel is the International Code of Signals flag for H. Its single-letter flag meaning is “I have a pilot on board.” The design has white and red vertical panels, white at the hoist and red at the fly. See the official Singapore Port Information 2025 signal chart.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Letter and spelling word | H — Hotel |
| Single-letter flag meaning | Pilot on board |
| Design | White hoist panel and red fly panel, divided vertically. |
| Overall proportions | The cited recognition chart is not a dimensioned manufacturing specification; no mandatory ratio is asserted. |
| Colour specification | White and red; no verified textile colour standard or numerical colour values supplied. |
| Manufacture | No standard size, fabric, seam allowance or attachment specification established by the consulted sources. |
Construction and artwork
Use the official recognition chart to identify panel orientation, not to derive exact dimensions. A manufacturing drawing requires a separately verified dimensional and colour standard. Screen colour values would be approximations; a newly drawn illustration would be an editorial reconstruction unless checked against such a standard.
Code history
IMO’s publication account dates the first edition of its Code to 1965 and describes subsequent amendments. Its 2005 edition incorporated amendments through December 2000; the 2022 publication retains that edition with minor editorial improvements. These are dates in the Code’s publication history, not evidence of Hotel’s first design or first use. See IMO’s publication record.
Related pilot signal
Golf ordinarily requests a pilot; Hotel reports that one is aboard. Golf also has a fishing-vessel meaning in the circumstances specified by the official signal chart.