The system was developed in France, in 1790 by Claude Chappe and his brothers. This was the time of the French Revolution and there was a great need for the government to be able to quickly communicate orders and to receive information.
Their first message, on March 2, 1791 was sent a distance of 10 miles and read:
"If you succeed, you will soon bask in glory".
('Si vous reussissez, vous serez bientot couvert de glorie")
They used black and white flags initially, as well as clocks, codebooks and telescopes.
Over the next few years, the Chappe bothers set up a network of 556 stations around France and towers with large, moveable wooden arms were developed.
The system was expensive to operate, requiring people to 'man' each station continuously during the hours of daylight. The staff had to be very skilled and attentive in order for the system to work.
Once the success of the system was realised, many other countries adopted the semaphore system, including Sweden, England and Germany.
The system of handheld flags was further developed during the early 1800s when the maritime industry found that the flags were a fast and easy method to communicate between ships.
It is still an accepted form of communication during an emergency, using flags in the daytime and torches at night.