How to Say "SOS" in Morse Code?
Morse code for "SOS" is: ... --- ...
Breaking down "SOS" into Morse code
In Morse code alphabet, each letter uses different combinations of dots and dashes. Here is a guide to the individual letters in "SOS":
- S:
...(di di dit) - O:
---(dah dah dah) - S:
...(di di dit)
How to Say "SOS" in Morse Code
The Morse code for "SOS" is ... --- ...
Click the play icon above the Morse Code box to hear the beeps, or use our light translator to see the flashes in this Morse message.
Breaking down "SOS" in Morse code
In the Morse code alphabet, each letter uses a different combination of dots (dits, or short pulses / flashes) and dashes (dahs, or long pulses / flashes). The letters in "SOS" are:
- S:
...(di di dit) - O:
---(dah dah dah) - S:
...(di di dit)
When Would You Signal SOS in Morse Code?
SOS is a classic visual distress signal. Remembering its simple Morse code pattern (three dots, three dashes, and three dots, or ... --- ...) could be useful to you one day.
If you're lost in the dark, and you're too far away to shout for help (for example, on a hiking trail at night), you can use a flashlight to send the SOS signal: three short flashes, then three longer pulses, and finally three short flashes of light.
Or if you're in danger and want to tell someone that you need help, try tapping SOS in Morse code on their hand or the table. This will signal distress without anyone else knowing.
Where Did SOS in Morse Code Come From?
Many people think that the term "SOS" is an acronym for a message like "Save Our Souls" or "Save Our Ship". In fact, the letters SOS don't have any other meaning: they were simply chosen as the ideal distress signal because the letters are simple to key and easy to remember (three dots, three dashes, and three dots).
What Came First: The SOS Signal or Morse Code?
SOS became a formal distress signal in 1906, about 70 years after the invention of the original Morse code, although it was used informally before that time.
The American inventor Samuel Morse developed the single-wire telegraph system in the mid-1830s and sent his first Morse code message in 1844. Morse used an older version of the code called American Morse code, which was replaced by today's standard International Morse code in 1851. This new form of communication also led to the development of other encoding systems, like binary code.
What Distress Signal Did They Use Before SOS?
Before the SOS distress code was formalized, ships in distress would signal SSS DDD and other sequences such as CQD and NC to call for help. However, the simpler SOS code also gradually came to be used as a way of communicating distress via radio signal.
The International Wireless Telegraph Convention, which met for the first time in 1906, made SOS the standard distress signal for maritime communications worldwide.
SOS as an International Distress Signal
SOS is one of several internationally recognized signals used to communicate distress, alongside "Mayday", "Pan-Pan", and different flags and beacons. It was commonly used for Morse signaling by radio operators in maritime, military, and government organizations before the advent of faster encoded communications systems.
The first ship reported to use the SOS distress code was the Cunard liner RMS Slavonia in 1909, but the most famous SOS transmission is perhaps the one placed in April 1912 by wireless operators Jack Phillips and Harold Bride from the RMS Titanic, hours before the ship sank. Phillips and Bride used both CQD (an older distress call) and SOS to communicate the emergency.