Using the permutation formula, it is found that there are 17,297,280 different signals consisting of 8 flags.
In this problem, the order in which the flags are visited is important, hence the permutation formula is used to solve this question.
The number of possible permutations of x elements from a set of n elements is given by:
[tex]P_{(n,x)} = \frac{n!}{(n-x)!}[/tex]
The first flag is blue, then the remaining 7 are taken from a set of 14, hence:
[tex]P_{(14,7)} = \frac{14!}{7!} = 17,297,280[/tex]
There are 17,297,280 different signals consisting of 8 flags.
More can be learned about the permutation formula at https://brainly.com/question/25925367
