Fireworks as communication

Is this a dumb idea? When would this be done? If they didn't think of semaphores or smoke signals, they could use fireworks. There are many variables they could use, and they could conserve materials by compressing a lot of information.
Information in fireworks can be conveyed by: size of display, duration, altitude, color, sounds, and maybe other features.

How does the amount of gunpowder used in a fireworks display compare with the amount in an average battle in the Napoleonic Wars? Or the amount used in all fireworks in the US in the past 200 years, compared with the amount used in US wars in 200 years?
 
They were used for signalling, though it would probably be difficult to send any sort of complex message. Especially if, say it's raining.

Per how much powder...well, a 18 pounder long cannon, like was mounted by many frigates (And some ships carried much larger) used around 5 pounds of powder for one shot. So, a 20 gun broadside from such would be around 100 pounds of powder. I can't answer your fireworks question, but I'd say that it's likely to be a comparatively small amount.
 
fireworks for signaling are IMHO just a precursor to flares and can be use similarly. Colors, colors and sound, different color combinations and also illumination. Perhaps also to generate smoke.
 
It would be a great way to send a secret message. Most people who see of won't know it's anything more than a fireworks show. But a specific piece of the display can serve as an instruction to someone who knows the code.
 
The concussion could be a kind of Morse code. Boom-pause-boom-boom-pause etc.
I've definitely read of occassions where military forces would signal to detached elements–that they were beginning an attack, say– by firing a cannon. That's essnetially a simplified version of the above.
 
The concussion could be a kind of Morse code. Boom-pause-boom-boom-pause etc.


Maybe, but a did or two could throw off the message.

I was thinking more along the lines of the fireworks creating a recognizable pattern like an American flag. That way, even with a few duds, the signal will still be recognizable.
 

Kaze

Banned
It was probably done like a flare system along the Great Wall of China. The barbarians are attacking on this section, fire off the red firework - the other sections could send aid and inform the Emperor.
As for trying it under Napoleons era or real battlefield conditions - it would only add to the confusion. War in the age of smokeless gunpowder and even now is a loud chaotic place, complex messages would be rather impossible with fireworks. On the other hand, a firework could be used to cause chaos among the command structure of the enemy - "the rocket's red glare" and "bombs bursting in air" in the Star Spangled Banner are good examples of this.
 
It would probably be difficult-to-impossible to relay complex messages, but more simple ones should be doable. E.g., say you want to attack the enemy from two directions simultaneously, you send up a firework as you launch your attack so that the other part of your army knows it's time.
 
Two other ideas about this--they'd learn to compress a lot of information into very little "space".
And, I was thinking ships in the Age of Exploration could send messages about shoals and hostile natives. Pirates might warn each other about royal navy ships approaching.
 
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