10. Item when the said Lord wishes to take counsel let him order his standard to be placed on high and then let all the galleys come towards the said Lord and hear what he shall wish to command of the other galleys what the said Lord shall wish to command.

11. ... and there where they have landed let each one go to that place where is the banner under which he serves.

22. Item, if it happens that my Lord wishes to speak to the galleys then my Lord shall raise a banner of his arms amidships of the galley, and immediately each one of the galleys shall approach the said Lord under the penalty named.

23. Item if it happens that my Lord wishes to speak to one or to two or to more of the galleys, then, when my Lord shall cause to be raised one banner or two or more; the captains whose arms are those of the banner or two banners that my Lord shall cause to be raised shall immediately approach the galley of my Lord to hear what he wishes to say to them, under the penalty aforesaid.

26. Item if it has happened that any one of the said galleys has seen any strange ship or galley or other vessel then immediately it shall raise a banner and lower the banner towards that part where it sees the strange vessels, under the penalty named, and hold the banner in that position until the galley of my Lord has returned the signal and has raised its banner.

27. Item in case it shall happen that any of the said galleys has any occasion of necessity that it has need of aid, then it shall make a signal with a banner amidships of the galley and immediately the other galleys shall approach that place, towards such galley to aid it, under the penalty named.

28. Item none of the galleys shall face one another before they shall see a banner on my Lord's galley pointed from the poop towards the prow, and immediately each of the galleys, under the penalty named, shall face one another[347].

29. Item if it has happened that one of the galleys has lost the others and then returns to them to make a recognition signal by day, that one which shall be to leeward, either that one or the one which is at anchor, shall raise the standard of its Commune amidships of the galley and the other galley shall return the signal and raise the standard of its Commune in the prow. Each one shall (then) carry its standard to its place on the poop[348]. Then they will know which are friends, and this under the penalty aforesaid.

It will be seen that both these sets of instructions give prominence to a signal for calling a Council and both, curiously enough, betray the same confusion of thought. From the opening sentence it would be supposed that the captains of the ships are assembled to advise the Admiral in Council; from the closing sentence it would appear that they are only called to hear the result of the council's deliberations. The "etc." in the English Instructions and the repetition at the end of Article 10 in the Savoy Instructions seem, however, to indicate that the texts have not reached us in their original state. In the English fleet the "Banner of Council" signal remained in use until the close of the eighteenth century[349]. As a rule this signal was made with the royal standard, though in 1369 a special gonfanon was provided and in the reign of Henry V the "Trinity Royal" had a banner of council containing the royal arms and the cross of St George[350]. When the fleet was large, as in the Cadiz Expedition of 1596, the royal standard was hoisted for the "selected" or inner council while the flag of St George called the captain and the master of every ship to the flagship for a general council.

But while in the English fleet the Banner of Council signal underwent no development until the end of the sixteenth century, the Mediterranean instructions of 1366 contain three signals of this nature: one to call the council, another to call all the ships when some order had to be communicated, and a third to call one or more particular vessels. These, with the addition of one signal for calling aid, one manoeuvring signal, and a recognition signal, to which were added signals by sails and, at night, by lanterns, contain the germ of a complete system of signalling.