Yes and no. While we know that hand signals have been used since the Ancient World, there are few actual manuals, or anything of the like, dating back further than the Napoleonic Era.

War has always been a chaotic mess, and only recently have we started using small, squad/section sized units (this practice didn't get much traction until late into WWI). As a result, officers had to rely on many different methods to keep their men in proper formation and give out orders, such as flags/standards, horns/drums, shouting and hand signals. These early hand signals weren't nearly as refined as our current systems, and generally consisted in waving swords around, but, again, there were many other methods of communication available at the time.

Nowadays, if you tried to march around in an open field, waving banners, beating drums, blowing horns, shouting and waving around shiny bits of sharp metal, it probably wouldn't go too well for you. Technology rendered heraldry and bands obsolete, while necessitating the ability to silently transfer information in a quick and reliable manner.