Beacon (signal fire)

Historically, a beacon, or fire signal, signal fire, also fire beacon, warning beacon, signal beacon (among others), is a type of bonfire used in ancient advance warning systems. Placed in locations where advanced warning was needed, these were to be lit by watch patrols in case enemies were spotted, placed in such a location that the light emitted from the beacon would be visible to a different beacing station, which then in turn would be lit, and so forth, until the signal reached tbe main governing force, whom then could begin mobilizing the local defense.
The usage of beacons is ancient and have been used all of the world.<ref name="1719.se"/>
In popculture
A famous beacon scene in cinema is from Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King from 2003 (based on the similarly named book by British author J. R. R. Tolkien), were beacons are used to signal to allied kingdoms far away that the city of Gondor is under attack.<ref name"The Beacon is Lit"/><ref name"archaeologicalnetworks"/> The scene has been spoofed by various TV-shows and thereof, such as Family Guy.
Another famous example is a conventional beacon scene in Disney's Mulan from 1998, were beacons are seen used on the Great Wall of China to alert the country of the Mongolian invasion.<ref name="archaeologicalnetworks"/>
In heraldry
In Sweden, and to some extent Finland, several municipalities have beacons on their coat of arms.

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