House Flags of Guernsey Shipping Companies
From Donkipedia
House Flags are distinguishing flags used by shipping companies to identify their vessels.
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[edit] Background
House (or company) flags for ships seem to have developed towards the end of the 19th century. They were used to identify a vessel's ownership. In Guernsey the lookout and signal station at St Peter Port would also fly a particular companies house flag when one of the company's vessels was sighted.
[edit] Guernsey Shipping Company House Flags
[edit] 19th Century
A note on terminology; In Guernsey and the United Kingdom in the 19th century ships were often owned by groups of individuals rather than a company in the modern sense. The individuals would each own a number of shares (a vessel was usually divided into 64 shares). There would be a "Managing Owner" who controlled the day to day operation of the vessel. He might manage a number of vessels each owned by a different combination of individuals. Thus "John Marquand & Co" would refer to vessels managed by John Marquand rather than there being a Limited Company of that name.
John B Marquand & Co.
A blue Maltese cross on a white background. However an image in John W Sarre's Guernsey Sailing Ships 1786 - 1936 shows the company's barquentine Morning Star flying a slightly different flag with a blue cross pattée rather than a Maltese cross. It is unclear which is the correct description. This may have also been the house flag of John Marquand & Co. the predecessor company.
G. Carrington & Co.
A red flag with a white band across the centre. This is shown in the plate for the company's Edina in Guernsey Sailing Ships 1786 - 1936.
Guernsey Mutual Shipping Insurance Society
Although not a shipping company those ships insured through the Guernsey Mutual flew a special flag. Described in The Guernsey Almanac as a white lozenge on a red ground - the ship's society number would be displayed in the centre. Again this can be seen in many images of Guernsey vessels - including those at the Maritime Museum in Castle Cornet.
William Le Lacheur & Co.
This may have been a white swallow tailed flag with a blue symmetric cross with a device at the centre. This flag can be seen in images of the company's vessels such as Herradura and Barranca
[edit] Modern Companies
Huelin-Renouf Shipping
A red saltire on a white ground with a blue H in a yellow lozenge at the centre. This can be seen at the companies website.
[edit] References
- Sarre, John W,: Guernsey Sailing Ships 1786-1936, Guernsey Museum Monograph No. 8, 2007. ISBN 978-1-871560-08-4
- Guernsey Almanack: 1862. (copies can be found at the Priaulx Library).
