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| The flag hoist "Bravo Zulu" |
Bravo Zulu (BZ), the combination of the Bravo and Zulu nautical signal flags, is a naval signal, typically conveyed by flaghoist or voice radio, meaning "well done" with regard to actions, operations or performance. In addition to its use in the Royal Navy, it has also been used as vernacular slang within the U.S. Navy, NATO, and other Allied naval forces. It can be combined with the "negative" signal, spoken or written as NEGAT, to say "NEGAT Bravo Zulu" to convey "not well done" for a given action.
"BZ" is widely used as shorthand vernacular amongst members of the sea services (i.e., navies, marines, and those coast guards that are military services as opposed to civilian agencies). In the Royal Navy, when the sovereign wishes to reward the crew of a British warship with the order to "splice the mainbrace", i.e., providing the crew with an additional rum ration,[1] it is ordinarily followed simply with the signal or statement "Bravo Zulu."