In the days before radio, ships would communicate with each other at sea by such things as shouting very loudly, aldis lamps or by a series of different colour flags which could be flown from the mast and viewed from a distance by telescope.
These small triangular flags were known as bunting and the person who's job was to send messages in this way was known as the bunting tosser.
This is where the modern day party and celebration bunting originated from.
