According to some sources, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) created the world’s first spelling alphabet, which is a more accurate term for what most of us call the “phonetic” alphabet. The initial version was used from 1927 until 1932 when, with changes made to improve functionality, it was also adopted by the International Commission for Air Navigation (one of ICAO’s predecessor organizations).

The 1932 spelling alphabet consisted of the following:

Amsterdam Baltimore Casablanca Denmark Edison Florida Gallipoli Havana Italia Jerusalem Kilogramme Liverpool Madagascar New York Oslo Paris Quebec Roma Santiago Tripoli Upsala Valencia Washington Xanthippe Yokohama Zurich.

In 1941, the United States began using the Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet, which was more commonly known as the “Able Baker” version. Its terms were as follows:

Able Baker Charlie Dog Easy Fox George How Item Jig King Love Mike Nan Oboe Peter Queen Roger Sugar Tare Uncle Victor William X-ray Yoke Zebra

Several other domestic and international variants (e.g., Latin America’s “Ana Brazil” spelling alphabet) were used in this era, with lessons learned with respect to global functionality and understandability. In November 1955, ICAO provided a recording of its proposed Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet to all member states for testing, and adopted the final version for aeronautical use in March 1956:

Alpha Bravo Charlie Delta Echo Foxtrot Golf Hotel India Juliett Kilo Lima Mike November Oscar Papa Quebec Romeo Sierra Tango Uniform Victor X-Ray Yankee Zulu

(FAA Safety Briefing – NovDec 2012)