SOS in Morse code
Three dots, three dashes, three dots, sent as one signal. Hear it, flash it or tap it.
How SOS is sent
SOS is three dots, three dashes and three dots: ··· ––– ···. It is sent as one continuous signal, not as three letters. Between its nine marks there is only the one-dot gap used inside a letter; the three-dot gaps that separate the letters S, O and S are left out.
A signal sent this way is called a prosign. Spelled out as letters, with the longer gaps between S, O and S, it is just the letters S O S.
What SOS means and how it is used
SOS is the international Morse code distress signal. The letters do not stand for words; “Save Our Ship” and “Save Our Souls” were attached to them later. The pattern was chosen because it is easy to send and easy to recognize.
It can be sent by any means that makes a short and a long signal: a whistle or horn, a flashlight or mirror, tapping on a hull or a pipe, or radio. Send the nine marks, pause, and send them again until someone answers.
On this page, press Play for the sound, keep the lamp on to watch it flash, open Full screen to use the whole screen as a signal lamp, and switch on Phone torch where your phone allows it.
SOS and “help me”
Spelling a message takes far longer than the single SOS signal. At the same speed:
- SOS
···–––···23 units- HELP ME
.... . .-.. .--. / -- .55 units
Spelling help me in Morse code works too, but SOS is the signal people who know Morse code listen for.