^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

British shipping companies (S)

South American Saint Line
South Georgia Co. Ltd.
Stag Line
Steel and Bennie Ltd.
Stephenson Clarke
Stevinson-Hardy
John Stewart & Co. Shipping
Stirling Shipping Co. Ltd.
W.H. Stott, Limited
Straits Steamship Co., Ltd.
Frank C. Strick & Co.
Summersfield Steamship Company Limited

See also:

South American Saint Line

White, with a red saltire which doesn't quite reach to the edges of the flag (almost as if there was a white border around the whole flag. In the centre, a white shield containing what looks like a yellow flower.
James Dignan, 17 October 2003

UK and Continent - South America; Houseflag: white, with red St. Andrew's cross; white field edged red in center, containing rising sun over Tudor rose.
Jarig Bakker, 17 October 2003

South American Saint Line. Some sources show the saltire as reaching the edge of the flag. I have come across a description of the emblem stating that the rising sun or flame effect is in fact the upper half of a gold star with 5 point showing surmounting the upper half of an orange estoile or star of wavy points with 6 showing in the appropriate spaces. The lower half of the design, also in gold, is referred to as "a lower wheel shape" consisting of the outline only. I enclose a scan from a Talbot- Booth publication, unfortunately in black and white hatchings but it is the clearest showing of the design that I have come across. This appears to show that the "estoile" is coloured red rather than orange and that the frame of the shield is likewise red. The "star" is gold, there is a touch of red at the base and the unknown frame in base is apparently gold. A Tudor Rose would certainly explain the background seeing that the company was Welsh based. The 1961 US Navy publication shows orange in place of red on the flag but there appears no reason for this. The company seems to have been absorbed by Houlder Bros around 1970.
Neale Rosanoski, 24 May 2004

South Georgia Co. Ltd.

by Jarig Bakker, based on the website of the National Maritime Museum.

From the website of the National Maritime Museum, the house flag of South Georgia Co. Ltd. A white flag with a red diamond in the centre on which is a white- bordered blue cross. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. It has a cotton hoist and is machine sewn."

Loughran (1979) writes: "Chr. Salvesen & co., Ltd., had Norwegian origins, and the device of the center of the flag is derived from the national flag of Norway. It owned the South Georgia Company."
Jarig Bakker, 29 August 2004

South Georgia Co. Ltd. was formed in 1916 whereas the parent company dates from1846 when the Norwegian brothers Christian and Theodore Salvesen set up business in Edinburgh. In shipping they were involved in whaling and post WW2 these interests declined until by 1990 they withdrew from shipping and are today a logistics company. The flag is normally shown under the Salvesen name and the earliest source I have come across is Reed 1901 which shows the flag as having a blue border but this may be an error with Lloyds 1904 on showing the version as shown here.
Neale Rosanoski, 13 February 2005

Stag Line

by Jarig Bakker, based on the website of the National Maritime Museum.

From the website of the National Maritime Museum, the house flag of Stag Line Ltd, North Shields. A red rectangular flag with the crest of a white stag. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. It has a cotton hoist and is machine sewn with the motif printed. A rope and toggle is attached. The design dates from 1846 when the company purchased its first vessel, a wooden scow named 'Stag'.

The company was named after its first vessel 'Stag', purchased in 1846 by Captain Joseph Robinson. He shortly afterwards formed a management company, Joseph Robinson & Co. The company ran small wooden barques, buying their first steam tramp in 1875 and going over entirely to steam by 1879. From 'Camelia' of 1858 onwards, the company tended to favour flower names for its vessels.

A limited company was formed in 1895 but the firm remained in Robinson's hands and was based in North Shields. After some losses during both world wars the company continued to trade worldwide, particularly to Canada. It was also involved in cable laying in New Zealand and the West Indies. The company was taken over by Hunting Gibson Ltd in 1981. The remaining coasters were sold by 1983 and the joint management company went to James Fisher & Sons of Barrow in 1982."
Jarig Bakker, 31 August 2004

Steel and Bennie Ltd.

by Jarig Bakker, based on the website of the National Maritime Museum.

From the website of the National Maritime Museum, the house flag of Steel and Bennie Ltd., Glasgow. A rectangular blue, white and blue triband with the red letters 'S & B' across the central white stripe. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. It has a cotton hoist and is machine sewn."
Jarig Bakker, 31 August 2004

Stephenson Clarke

by James Dignan

Based on Sampson (1957).
James Dignan, 19 October 2003

Stephenson Clarke & Associated Co.'s, Ltd.
Description: blue with red St. Andrew's cross; white letters S&CCo in each quarter.
Jarig Bakker, 19 October 2003

Stephenson Clarke. A slightly different version is shown by the 1933 Lloyd Reedereiflaggen cigarette card collection replacing the letters "S&CCo" as shown with "CS&Co" but nobody else supports this version. However the company which originated as Stephenson Clarke & Co. in 1865 and became Stephenson Clarke & Associated Companies Ltd. in 1928, in 1945 changed to Stephenson Clarke Ltd. leading to a change in flag with the letters cut to "S" (hoist) and "C" (fly). Since then the name has changed in 1968 to Stephenson Clarke Shipping Ltd. and then in 2001 to Stephenson Clarke Shipmanagement Ltd. but I do not know whether there were changes to the flag as a result.
Neale Rosanoski, 24 May 2004

Stevinson-Hardy

by Jarig Bakker, based on the website of the National Maritime Museum.

From the website of the National Maritime Museum, the house flag of Stevinson-Hardy. A blue rectangular flag with a yellow diamond in the centre bearing the blue letters 'SH'. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. It has a cotton hoist and is machine sewn."
Jarig Bakker, 31 August 2004

John Stewart & Co. Shipping

by James Dignan

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

Based in Glasgow, Scotland
Phil Nelson, 11 October 2003

Stirling Shipping Co. Ltd.

by Jarig Bakker, based on the website of the National Maritime Museum.

From the website of the National Maritime Museum, the house flag of Stirling Shipping Co. Ltd., Glasgow. A red, white and red tricolour flag. On the central white stripe, there are two narrow, wavy vertical blue lines running parallel. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. It has a cotton hoist and is machine sewn. The central motif is in polyester and cotton material. A rope and toggle is attached. The wavy lines are said to represent the River Clyde. The flag is similar to that of the associated company, Harrisons (Clyde) Ltd."
Jarig Bakker, 31 August 2004

W.H. Stott, Limited

by Jarig Bakker

Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels [Wedge 1926]

W.H. Stott, Limited, Liverpool - red swallowtail, white "S".
Jarig Bakker, 24 January 2005

Straits Steamship Co., Ltd.

by Jarig Bakker, 6 July 2001

The old Straits Steamship Company operated out of Singapore. The Company was associated with the Blue Funnel Line (Alfred Holt & Co.) Liverpool. It was operating for around 100 yrs up to the late 1950's when it was bought out by Kepal.
John Bax, 6 July 2001

Flag is blue ground; white cross on red diamond, according to Lloyd's Calendar (1957). Grote Elsevier Atlas (1951) has an image for Straits Lines (Gr. Br.), which I have used to make this image. The funnel in Elsevier's has a thin white line between the black and blue (as on the Blue Funnel funnel).
Jarig Bakker, 6 July 2001

Talbot-Booth (c1934) shows a large diamond with the corners almost touching the edges of the flag, but Stewart (1953), revised by Styring (1963), shows a small diamond with the corners well back from the edges of the flag.
David Prothero, 7 July 2001

Straits Steamship Co. Ltd. is a Singapore company formed in 1890. It was shifted briefly to England after the Japanese invasion in WW2 where it was re registered as the Singapore Straits Steamship Co. Ltd, returning to Singapore in 1945 and reverting to its original name. Alfred Holt & Co. had acquired an interest in 1926 which subsequently was held by Ocean Trading & Transport plc who sold their 58% interest in 6/1983 to Keppel Shipyard. In 1993 the company changed its name to Steamers Maritime Holdings Ltd. and it still operates under the control of the Keppel Corporation Ltd. Most sources show the flag diamond as being either completely throughout or nearly so with a company ad in the Singapore Times in 3/1990 supporting the former. I do not know whether the flag was retained on the last name change. The source showing the funnel having a narrow white line dividing the blue from the black would appear to be incorrect. All regular sources show a white funnel with a black top separated by a very broad blue band. It sounds like the authors may have shown the Blue Funnel flag (blue with a black top) with the white line occurring because of the colouring alignments not being quite right.
Neale Rosanoski, 24 May 2004

Frank C. Strick & Co.

by James Dignan

Based on Sampson (1957).
James Dignan, 8 October 2003

Houseflag: white burgee, blue border, top and bottom, with red, blue, red and blue chevrons. Sailing: United Kingdom-Persian Gulf.
Jarig Bakker, 9 October 2003

Brown 195: Strick Line, Ltd., London.
Funnel: Black, a wide white band with four shortened chevrons pointing to the viewers left, alternating from the left, red and blue.
Flag: 2:3, a forked white flag with blue borders along the fly-wise edges, four shortened chevrons pointing towards the hoist, alternating red and blue. The chevrons, together with the spaces between them that have the same width as the bars of the chevrons, fill almost the entire depth of the flag. The chevrons and the fork are all orthogonal. (It may be that the intention is that only a single width separates the last chevron from the fly edges, but the print quality of Browns' is not sufficient to be sure.)

James's images is more like:
Flag: 2:3, a forked white flag with blue borders along the fly-wise edges, four shortened chevrons pointing towards the hoist, alternating red and blue. The chevrons, together with the spaces between them that have the same width as the bars of the chevrons, fill approximately half the depth of the flag. The fork is orthogonal, the chevrons are obtuse.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 20 October 2003

Frank C. Strick & Co. Most sources, Talbot-Booth being the major exception, show the fork taking all of the fly rather than just the white band. All usual sources agree that the chevrons occupy most of the band. The funnel view given only applies to the port view, starboard also shows the chevrons pointing forward. The company had a commodore's flag being a white tapered swallowtail, a red cross and in the canton the four red-blue chevrons. The company was absorbed into P&O (owners from 1919) in 1972 and although P&O appear to have used their name for registering ships until the early 1980s I understand that the flag was not used after 1972.
Neale Rosanoski, 24 May 2004

by Jarig Bakker, based on the website of the National Maritime Museum.

From the website of the National Maritime Museum, the house flag of the Strick Line Ltd., London. A white, swallow-tailed burgee with a blue border at the top and bottom edge. Four chevron stripes, alternatively red and blue are placed across the centre. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. It has a cotton hoist and is machine sewn. A rope and two Inglefield clips is attached.

The line was founded by Frank Clarke Strick (1849-1943), a Swansea businessman with a background in coal exporting and shipbroking. He began his career as a shipowner in 1887, his vessels carrying coal to the Mediterranean ports and the Gulf and importing iron ore. By 1913, Strick's companies, La Commerciale Steam Navigation Co. Ltd, The Anglo-Arabian and Persian Steamship Co. Ltd and Anglo-Algerian Steam Ship Co. (1896) Ltd had all merged to form Strick Line Ltd.

The company was sold in 1919 and shortly afterwards became Strick Line (1923) Ltd, a part of the P&O group. In 1946 the company name reverted to Strick Line Ltd. In the post-war period the company traded worldwide, and in particular with the Gulf States. It was taken over by P&O in 1972 and went out of existence in 1974."
Jarig Bakker, 31 August 2004

Commodore's flag

by Jarig Bakker, 28 December 2004

Strick Steamship Co. Ltd. Commodore's flag - white tapered swallowtail, red cross; in canton four chevrons RBRB note: Commodore's flag is flown separately from the ordinary flag, from the foremast.
From Scott, R.M., The Caltex book of Flags and Funnels, Capetown, Caltex Africa Ltd. (1959).
Jarig Bakker, 28 December 2004

Summersfield Steamship Company Limited

by Jarig Bakker

Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels [Wedge 1926]

Summersfield Steamship Company Limited, Liverpool. White flag bordered red; in the center "S.Ltd." in red.
Jarig Bakker, 15 January 2005