The company was founded in 1922 as Fabriek van Signaalapparaten for the development of naval systems. In 1940 the company's factory was captured by the invading German Army. After the war the company was nationalised as N.V. Hollandse Signaalapparaten (Signaal). In 1956 the majority of Signaal shares were purchased by Philips, a Netherlands-based electronics company. Between 1956 and the end of the Cold War Signaal's business expanded to the point where it had customers in 35 countries and over 5,000 employees.