House flags of British shipping companies (11)

Last modified: 2004-01-03 by rob raeside
Keywords: house flag | aberdeen coal and shipping co | andrew weir | blue funnel line | ah | lozenge | booth steamship | b | saltire | anchor line | anchor (red) | belfast steamship |
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• Aberdeen and Commonwealth Line
• Aberdeen Coal & Shipping Co., Ltd.
• Adelaide Steamship Co.
• Ald Shipping Co.
• Alfred Holt & Co.
• Allan Line
• Anchor Line
• Andrew Weir Shipping Co. Ltd.
• Athel Line
• Atlantic Steamship Co. Ltd.
• Bank Line
• Belfast, Mersey & Manchester S.S. Co
• Belfast Steamship Co. Ltd
• Bland Line Ltd.
• Blue Funnel Line
• Blue Star Line
• Bolton Steam Shipping Co.
• Booth Steamship Co., Ltd.

• House flags of British shipping companies
• House flags of shipping companies
• United Kingdom

Aberdeen and Commonwealth Line

by James Dignan

Based on an illustration by Sampson (1957)
James Dignan, 8 October 2003

I have also a flag with the star pointing upwards.
Jarig Bakker, 8 October 2003

Brown's Flags and Funnels (1940):
Aberdeen and Commonwealth Line, ltd. (Geo. Thompson & Co., Ltd.), London
Funnel: Yellow.
Flag: Red over blue, a white six-pointed star pointing flywise. The star may be intended as having a spanning circle half the height of the flag.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 18 October 2003

from Stewart and Styring's Flags, Funnels and Hull Colors 1963

Adelaide Steamship Co.

by James Dignan

Based on Sampson (1957)
James Dignan, 10 October 2003

Formed in 1875. Merged with Gulf Steamship Company in 1882. The company has been reorganized from liquidation in 1900 and 1920. The company stopped operating as a maritime entity in 1977 changing its name to Residual Assco Group Ltd. The Marine division became Adsteam Marine Ltd. Australia.
Phil Nelson, 10 October 2003

Ald Shipping Co.

by James Dignan

Based on Sampson (1957)
James Dignan, 12 October 2003

Appears to have been out of Bristol.
Phil Nelson, 12 October 2003

Alfred Holt & Co.

by James Dignan

Based on Sampson (1957)
James Dignan, 10 October 2003

Also known as the Blue Funnel Line - Ocean Steam Ship Company. Ltd., and China Mutual Steam Navigation Company Ltd.
Houseflag: Blue, with White Diamond, AH in Black in center.
Jarig Bakker, 10 October 2003

See http://fp.redduster.f9.co.uk/BLUEFUN.htm for a history of the company.
Phil Nelson, 10 October 2003

Allan Line

by Jarig Bakker

The "Allan" Line Steamship Co., Ltd. was founded in Glasgow begin 19th century, and became Ltd in 1897; London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Le Havre - East coast of North America, from the St. Lawrence till the La Plata.
Houseflag: red pennant over a vertical triband of red, white and blue.
Source: Houseflag chart in Brockhaus' Konversations-Lexikon, 14th ed (c.1907)
Jarig Bakker, 13 October 2003

 The Allan Line was more formally known as Montreal Ocean Steamship Company. It merged with the Canadian Pacific Line in 1915 and operated as Canadian Pacific Ocean Services afterwards.
Phil Nelson, 13 October 2003

Anchor Line

  by Aingeru Astui Zarraga, 26 April 2002

The logo with the crown and a pair of hands holding the ship belongs to "Andrew Weir Shipping Ltd.". The one of the McAndrews is most simple.

Athel Line

by James Dignan

Based on Sampson (1957)
James Dignan, 17 October 2003

Houseflag: Navy Blue; ATHEL in blue letters in white diamond.
Jarig Bakker, 17 October 2003

Athel Line was a subsidiary of United Molasses. London UK.
Phil Nelson, 18 October 2003

Atlantic Steamship Co. Ltd.

Atlantic Steam Navigation Co. began in the 1930's, but had no ships until 1945/46 when they acquired ex-navy landing craft, and later pioneered purpose built RoRo [roll-on-roll-off] ships. They also traded under the name Transport Ferry Service. The flag was a white burgee, bordered in blue and with a bluebird motif in the centre. In 1974 the company was acquired by Townsend Thoresen and the flag slowly phased out as ship liveries were changed at refit.

Ted Harrison, 11 December 2001

This is a company that serves the South Pacific islands but is, at least originally, a Scottish company. A couple of websites include information on this company, namely www.freightertravel.hb.co.nz/shippinglines/bankline.htm and  ships.utopia.co.nz/Willowbank.html. The Scottish origins are very evident in the flag, which could be described as a Scottish flag with an arm of the cross removed and half of the field turned red. In other more vexillological words, it's a diagonal bicolour (lower hoist - upper fly) red over blue with a white diagonal band throughout.
Jorge Candeias, 24 April 2002

The "Bank Line" is part of the "Andrew Weir Shipping Ltd." founded in 1885 and stablished in London. The "Bank Line" was formed by Andrew Weir in 1905 and since that time has been operating regular services between Europe and the South Pacific. Another subsidiary of "Andrew Weir" is "McAndrews", a ship agency organization that provides services throughout the Iberian Peninsula. Its regional offices are located in Spain and Portugal. It was established in 1770 by William McAndrews as a shipping and trading company.
Aingeru Astui Zarraga, 25 April 2002

The "Bank Line" is part of the "Andrew Weir Shipping Ltd." founded in 1885 and established in London. The "Bank Line" was formed by Andrew Weir in 1905 and since that time has been operating regular services between Europe and the South Pacific. Recently the Andrew Weir website noted that Andrew Weir Shipping (AWS) has signed an agreement to sell The Bank Line (South Pacific) service to The China Navigation Co Ltd (CNCo), the deepsea shipping arm of the Swire Group.
Phil Nelson, 12 October 2003

Belfast, Mersey & Manchester S.S. Co.

by James Dignan

Based on Sampson (1957)
James Dignan, 11 October 2003

This company was a subsidiary of Coast Lines.
Phil Nelson, 11 October 2003

Belfast Steamship Co. Ltd

Bland Line Ltd.

from Stewart and Styring's Flags, Funnels and Hull Colors 1963

Blue Funnel Line

Blue Star Line

by James Dignan

Based on an illustration by Sampson (1957)
James Dignan, 8 October 2003

This company operated from London to Brazil and the River Plate. The houseflag was a red burgee with a five-pointed blue star on a white disc.
Jarig Bakker, 8 October 2003

Brown's Flags and Funnels (1940): Blue Star Line Ltd., London
Funnel: Red with a blue five-pointed star on a white disk, close to a black top with a white band.
Flag: A red swallow-tailed flag with near the hoist on a white disk a blue five-pointed star. The angle of the fork is approximately 60 degrees, the diminishing of the outside is at approximately 5 degrees. The diameter of the disk appears to be equal to the distance between the tips.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 18 October 2003

Bolton Steam Shipping Co.

by James Dignan

Based on an illustration by Sampson (1957)
James Dignan, 8 October 2003

Company based in London, UK. Stewart & Styring (1963) shows periods following each initial.
Phil Nelson, 9 October 2003

Brown 10: Bolton Steam Shipping Co., Ltd., London
Funnel: Black
Flag: 2:3, Red, in a white diamond throughout in red the text "F.B.", in letters approximately one-third in height.

James' image is:
Flag: 2:3, Red, in a white diamond throughout in red the letters "FB", in letters approximately one-third in height. I have the impression several companies originally used periods to indicate abbreviations, but later improved the flag image by dropping those. Earlier this year I went looking for information on this firm, but all I
could gather was that there were already Boltons in shipping in London in the Napoleonic era; the time frame, and the initials, suggest Fred Bolton; the company was still active as a liner in 1996.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 20 October 2003

Sampson (1957) shows this flag with a black B.
James Dignan, 8 October 2003