WWII Phonetic Alphabet

To avoid confusion from letters which sound alike, the military introduced a phonetic alphabet in WWII where letters were pronounced as distinctive words. For example, the word “Navy” would be “Nan Able Victor Yoke”.  The following phonetic alphabet was used throughout WWII, but was later replaced by a NATO set in 1957.


World War II

Phonetic Alphabet

Signal
Flag

 Morse Code


NATO*

Phonetic Alphabet

 


A

Able

.-


A

Alpha


B

Baker

-…


B

Bravo


C

Charlie

-.-.


C

Charlie


D

Dog

-..


D

Delta


E

Easy

.


E

Echo


F

Fox

..-.


F

Foxtrot


G

George

–.


G

Golf


H

How

….


H

Hotel


I

Item

..


I

India


J

Jig

.—


J

Juliette


K

King

-.-


K

Kilo


L

Love

.-..


L

Lima


M

Mike

—


M

Mike


N

Nan

-.


N

November


O

Oboe

—


O

Oscar


P

Peter

.–.


P

Papa


Q

Queen

–.-


Q

Quebec


R

Roger

.-.


R

Romeo


S

Sugar

…


S

Sierra


T

Tare

–


T

Tango


U

Uncle

..-


U

Uniform


V

Victor

…-


V

Victor


W

William

.–


W

Whiskey


X

X Ray

-..-


X

X Ray


Y

Yoke

-.–


Y

Yankee


Z

Zebra

–..


Z

Zulu

 

 

Figure

Pronounced

Morse Code

0

Zeero

 —–

1

Wun
.—-

2

Too
..—

3

Tree or Thr-ee
…–

4

Fower
….-

5

Fife
…..

6

Siks
-….

7

Seven
–…

8

Ate
—..

9

Niner
—-.