The paper considers the distributed formation control problem given bearing-only sensing of
nearby agents with respect to a global vector frame, provided by a compass. We propose a
bearing-compass control law and prove its convergence to a formation that is unique up to
translation and scaling. We present results that describe the formation's evolution in terms
useful to a human operator, focusing on scale, translation and rotation of the formation. The
results are supported with a number of illustrative examples.