Where Did the NATO Phonetic Alphabet Come From?

In 1956, NATO allies decided to adopt one phonetic alphabet for all members to use, changing only a few letters from the previous version. It's the alphabet still used today by numerous organizations beyond NATO and the military, including the International Telecommunication Union, the American National Standards Institute, and others.

Here's a breakdown of each letter in the NATO phonetic alphabet and its respective pronunciation.

This alphabet is used pretty much anywhere that clear audio communication is of the highest importance and where English is being spoken. Military forces, emergency services and disaster response teams all use this phonetic alphabet to spell out critical terms.

Let's back up for a moment to clear up some misunderstandings and get our terminology correct. Technically, the phonetic alphabet we're talking about here is known as the "international radiotelephony spelling alphabet." Yes, it's a mouthful. And it doesn't include the word "phonetic."

What gives?

The term "spelling alphabet" is a more accurate description of what is commonly known as the "phonetic alphabet." Used in a range of military and civilian contexts, the so-called "phonetic alphabet" is a way to relate the specific letters (and numbers) of a word or code, especially over remote signals like radio communications.

So if Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, etc., constitute a spelling alphabet, why is it called a phonetic alphabet? Well, the terms "NATO phonetic alphabet" and "phonetic alphabet" are in common enough usage that the names have more or less stuck. If we're being sticklers, though, we should note that "phonetic alphabets" are very different.

Take the international phonetic alphabet (IPA), for instance. It's not the same thing at all, although you've likely seen it plenty of times, such as in the dictionary or an encyclopedia. The international phonetic alphabet is a system for representing every sound used in every human language on Earth.

IPA transcriptions use 163 characters — including letters, diacritics and prosodic marks — to show how words are pronounced. Most Wikipedia entries use the IPA symbols right at the top so you can learn how to say people's names or pronounce terms correctly.

Now that we've got that all cleared up (either that or you're hopelessly confused), let's address the question on everyone's mind: Why should we use a phonetic alphabet in the first place? As it happens, you've probably had occasion to use a phonetic or spelling alphabet in your everyday life.

Have you ever tried to spell words, such as your name or email address, while on the phone with customer service? You've probably used an improvised word spelling alphabet: "That's S as in super, A as in apple, and M as in music."

Think of how much higher the stakes are in combat, or if a particular code word needs to be spelled out, letter by letter. The problem is that so many letters in the Latin alphabet sound like each other: "e" could be mistaken for "p" or "b" or "g," especially on a poor connection with lots of background noise.

Having a phonetic alphabet allows for much clearer communication, which is essential among armed forces such. By varying the sounds and the syllables, it becomes much harder to confuse two letters and ensures that correct words (and code words) are being communicated.

As remote oral communication became more widespread, the clarity afforded by a phonetic alphabet became necessary. The first phonetic alphabet was invented in the 1920s by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), according to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It used geographical names for each letter: Amsterdam, Baltimore, Casablanca, Denmark and so forth.

In 1941, in time for World War II, the U.S. Army and Navy created the Able Baker alphabet, which was also adopted by U.K. forces. It uses shorter everyday words and names: Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog, Easy, Fox, etc.

Over the next several years, modifications were made by different organizations in an attempt to create a useful international standard. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) created a revised alphabet to be less English-centric, while the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) further refined the list.

Many of the words used are still in English, but the final version also includes letters from the Greek alphabet and incorporates sounds common to English, French and Spanish: Alfa (not "Alpha"), Bravo, Coca, Delta, etc.