Flag signal

The flag signal is a message made up of flags raised in a specific order. It allows ships to visually exchange messages without any special equipment. Each country has its own flag alphabet. Three different flag signals can be seen in From Up on Poppy Hill film.

Umi's flag signal
Every morning Umi Matsuzaki raises two flags which messages "I wish you a safe journey" to all passing by ships. She was taught that by her father, Yūichirō Sawamura, before he went missing. Umi does that because she believes that she must keep a memory of her father. After her father went missing, Umi moved to Coquelicot Manor, a boarding house belonging to her grandparents. Her grandfather build a mast for Umi to hoist her flags there. Shun Kazama noticed Umi's flags, and he wrote an article about that in the school's newspaper.

Miki's flag signal
Flaggensignal