When my daughter was born I wanted a unique way to announce her name to the world. A lifetime of living by the sea and a love of sailing lead me to the idea of spelling out my future first mate's named using signal flags, the international signals used by ships at sea to spell out short messages. 

After all, indoctrinating children with maritime lore should start at an early age. However the signal flags I found were expensive, uninspired and required that one purchase the entire signal alphabet rather than just the letters they wanted.

             

After searching online and in stores, my journey was awash. Instead of abandoning ship, I worked with Mary, the local seamstress, to sew the flags from cotton. While they were handsome, they could not be flown outside and therefore were limited in their use. I knew there had to be a better way to celebrate maritime culture, one that was affordable to everyone. That is when MySignalFlags.com was born.

Continuing the tradition of manufacturing sturdy maritime goods, I got to working with my work wife, Tanya Bernard, and created Maritime Tribes, a manufacturer / supplier of 43 unique textile and paper goods for coastal independent retailers using nautical charts and local maps as the base artwork. 

We love bright, happy colors, sunny days and a good stiff breeze to fill our sails. Signal flags work best in those conditions. Based in Newport, Rhode Island and Fall River, Mass, Maritime Tribes wants to bring maritime's colorful history into your life. Next time you drop anchor in Newport, please stop in and say "Ahoy!"