A
yard is a
spar on a
mast from which
sails are set. It may be constructed of timber or steel or from more modern materials like
aluminium or
carbon fibre. Although some types of
fore and aft rigs have yards, the term is usually used to describe the horizontal spars used on
square rigged sails. In addition, for some decades after square sails were generally dispensed with, some yards were retained for deploying wireless (radio) aerials and signal flags.