ARRL DX Century Club (DXCC) Rules — 1947 Edition

NEW DX-CENTURY-CLUB AWARD

Certificate for Amateurs Who Prove Postwar Contact with 100 Countries

We present below the rules under which the DX Century Club Award will be issued to amateurs who have worked and confirmed contact with 100 countries in the postwar period. They are effective for contacts made since November 15, 1945.

Please note that the new award does not wash out your prewar DX work. If you worked fewer than 100 countries before the war and have since worked and confirmed a sufficient number to make the 100 mark, the DXCC is still available to you. See page 74 of June 1946 QST for complete details on how to apply for such certification.

The new award is available to any amateur who works 100 countries from November 15, 1945, and who submits satisfactory confirmations to ARRL. Prewar holders of the DXCC award and those who may have received certificates for work based on combined prewar and postwar work also may apply upon proper presentation of 100 postwar confirmations. The new certificate will be marked to differentiate it from awards previously made. Note, too, that you may now work for endorsements to certify, in steps of 10, your countries confirmed above 100. These will take the form of attractive stickers or coupons to be attached to your postwar certificate.

The countries list to be used in connection with the new DXCC was published in February QST. Please refer to it and the rules published herewith to determine how you stand in working for the Postwar DXCC Award.

RULES

1) The Century Club Award Certificate for confirmed contacts with 100 or more countries is available to all amateurs everywhere in the world.

2) Confirmations must be submitted direct to ARRL headquarters for all countries claimed. Claim is for total of 100 countries and must be included with first application. Confirmations from foreign contest logs may be requested on case of the ARRL International DX contest and subject to the following conditions:

a) Sufficient confirmations of other types must be submitted so that these, plus the DX Contest confirmations, will total 100. In every case, Contest confirmations must not be requested for any countries from which the applicant has regular confirmations. That is, Contest confirmations will be granted only in the case of countries from which the applicant has no regular confirmations.

b) Look up the Contest rules as published in QST to see if your name is listed in the foreign scores. If it isn’t, do not send in no confirmations is possible.

c) Give year of Contest, date and time of QSO.

d) In future DX Contests, do not request confirmations until after the final results have been published, usually in one of the early fall issues. Requests before this date will be ignored.

3) The ARRL Countries List, printed periodically in QST, will be used in determining what constitutes a “country.” (February 1947 QST contains the postwar ARRL list.)

4) Confirmations must be accompanied by a list of claimed countries and stations to aid in checking and bookkeeping.

5) Confirmations from additional countries may be submitted for credit each time additional confirmations are available. Endorsements for affixing to certificates and showing the new confirmed total (110, 120, 130, etc.) will be awarded as additional credits are granted. ARRL DX Competition logs from foreign stations may be utilized for these endorsements, subject to conditions stated under (2).

6) All contacts must be made with amateur stations working in the authorized amateur bands or with other stations licensed to work amateurs.

7) In case of country where amateurs are licensed in the normal manner, credit may be claimed only for stations using regular government-assigned call letters. No credit may be claimed for contacts with stations in any country which amateurs have been temporarily closed down by special government edict where amateur licenses were normally issued in the normal manner.

8) All stations contacted must be “land stations.” Contacts with ships, anchored or otherwise, and aircraft, cannot be counted.

9) All stations must be contacted from the same call area, where such areas exist, or from the same country in cases where there are no call areas. One exception is allowed to this rule: where a station is moved from one call area to another, or from one country to another, all contacts must be made from a radius of 150 miles of the initial location.

10) Contacts may be made over any period of years from November 15, 1945, provided only that all contacts were made after that date. Contacts may be made at any time, day or night, but all confirmations must be dated in the same area (or country), if the license for all was the same.

11) All confirmations must be submitted exactly as received from the station worked. Any altered or forged confirmations submitted for credit will result in disqualification of the applicant. The eligibility of any DXCC applicant who was ever barred from DXCC for non-amateur operations or fraudulent practices shall be determined by the Awards Committee. Any holder of the Century Club Award submitting forged or altered confirmations must forfeit his right to endorsements for further performance.

12) OPERATING Ethics: Fair play and good sportsmanship in operating are required of all amateurs working for the DX Century Club Award. In the event of specific objections relative to continued poor operating ethics an individual may be disqualified from the DXCC by action of the ARRL Awards Committee.

13) Sufficient postage for the return of confirmations must be forwarded with the application. In order to insure the safe return of large batches of confirmations, it is suggested that enough postage be sent to make possible their return by first-class mail, registered.

14) Decisions of the ARRL Awards Committee regarding interpretation of the rules as printed or later amended shall be final.

15) Address all applications and confirmations to the Communications Department, ARRL, 38 La Salle Road, West Hartford 7, Conn.

March 1947 — QST, p. 69

Purpose

To encourage confirmed two-way amateur radio communication with at least 100 different “countries” of the world, as recognized by the ARRL Awards Committee.

Rule 1 – Definition of a Country

A country (now called an entity) was defined as:

“Any area of the world, other than the continental United States and its possessions, which possesses a distinct and different government, or which is physically separated from other such areas by a significant distance of water.”

Key implications:

Political distinctness was the primary criterion.
Geographical separation was secondary — usually ≥ 100 miles (160 km) of open water.
U.S. territories and possessions (Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Canal Zone, etc.) were considered separate countries.
Colonies (e.g. British Honduras, French Morocco) generally qualified separately if under different administration.

Rule 2 – Eligibility

Open to all licensed amateur radio operators anywhere in the world.
Confirmations had to be made after November 15, 1945 (post-war resumption of international operation).
Contacts could be made on any amateur band or mode authorized at the time.

Rule 3 – Confirmation of Contacts

QSL cards were required for each country claimed.
Each card had to show the callsign, date, time, band, and mode.
All cards were to be personally checked by ARRL Headquarters staff or an official ARRL Field Representative.
Duplicate QSOs with the same country did not count.

Rule 4 – Award Qualification

Applicants who submitted verified QSLs confirming two-way contacts with 100 or more countries would receive:
- The DX Century Club Certificate, and
- The right to use the “DXCC” suffix after their call sign in correspondence (e.g. W1ABC DXCC).
Endorsements were offered for additional totals (e.g. 125, 150, 175, etc.), though this was formalized more fully later.

Rule 5 – Definition of Possessions and Protectorates

A possession or protectorate administered separately by a different government from the “parent” was considered a separate country.
Examples (1947 list): Alaska (KL7), Hawaii (KH6), Puerto Rico (KP4), Canal Zone (KZ5), Guam (KG6), etc.
U.S. mainland 48 states were treated as one country.

Rule 6 – Protests and Changes

“The ARRL Awards Committee reserves the right to add or delete countries from the DXCC List as political changes may occur or as additional information becomes available.”

This clause later evolved into the “DXCC Rules Committee” mechanism for entity additions/deletions.

Rule 7 – Certificates and Publication

Successful applicants’ names and totals were published in QST and the ARRL DXCC List; certificates were mailed without fee to ARRL members in good standing.

Rule 8 – General Provisions

Operation must conform to all local licensing and radio-communication laws.
All contacts must be legitimate amateur-to-amateur QSOs.
Cross-band, maritime mobile, or experimental contacts did not count.
The ARRL’s decision was final.

Geopolitical Context of the 1947 DXCC List

The first DXCC List (1947) contained 231 entities, including:

Major powers (U.S.A., U.K., France, USSR, China (Nanking), etc.)
Colonies and territories counted separately (e.g. Aden, Basutoland, Gold Coast, Indo-China, Ceylon, French Somaliland)
Special cases like SMOM (1A0) and Vatican City (HV) already appeared as distinct political entities.
The distance criterion was primitive and pre-dated the later “Rule 1C” (Offshore Island Rule) which came into effect in the 1950s–60s.

Summary Table

Aspect	1947 Rule
Political Distinction	Separate government = separate country
Geographic Separation	“Significant water distance,” ~100 miles typical
Parent–Possession Rule	Separate administration ⇒ separate entity
Minimum Count	100 confirmed countries
QSL Verification	Physical cards checked by ARRL
Time Limit	Contacts after Nov 15 1945
Appeals	ARRL Awards Committee final
Offshore Island Rule	Not yet formally codified (pre-Rule 1C)

Historical Significance

The 1947 DXCC Rules established:

The foundational political–geographical dual test,
The concept of entity continuity tied to government or administrative change,
The practice of list revision by the ARRL Awards Committee, and
The baseline from which later offshore, separation, and “distinct administration” rules (1A, 1B, 1C) evolved in later editions (1952, 1955, 1960, 1963 etc.).