Morse Code Articles & Guides

What you will find in these articles

Most Morse code websites stop at a chart. This blog is for the questions that come after it. What does SOS actually stand for, and why was it chosen over CQD? How do you say "I love you" in Morse code, and what changes when you want to send it by flashlight instead of by text? What are the timing rules that make a message readable, and how slow is slow enough for a beginner on the other end?

Each guide takes one of those questions and answers it completely: the exact dots and dashes, a letter-by-letter breakdown you can hear, the history where it matters, and a practical section on sending the message with sound, light, taps or a radio key. Where a word or phrase has a dedicated page in our words and phrases collection, the article links to it, and every Morse string in the text is clickable so you can listen without leaving the page.

Who the guides are written for

Beginners who want to send their first message this week, not after a year of drilling. Teachers and parents looking for a reliable explanation to hand to kids. Amateur radio candidates brushing up before their first CW contact. Writers, puzzle makers and gift buyers who need a phrase to be exactly right. And the simply curious, who saw a tattoo or a bracelet and wondered what it said.

How we keep them accurate

Every code on this site follows International Morse as defined in ITU-R Recommendation M.1677, the same standard used by maritime, aviation and amateur radio operators. Timing uses the 1-3-1-3-7 rule and the PARIS standard for words per minute. Historical facts are limited to what is well documented: the first telegraph message of 1844, the adoption of SOS in 1906, the Titanic's CQD and SOS calls in 1912. If something here is wrong, write to us and we will fix it.

New to the code? Start with what Morse code is, then the alphabet, and come back here when you are ready to send something real.