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Maritime Houseflags M-P (Australia)

Australia

Last modified: 2015-06-27 by ian macdonald
Keywords: gyspum resources australia | gra | huddart parker | hp | hp&co | melbourne steamship co | north coast s.n. co. | m s coy | n c s co | cross (red) | saltire (blue) |
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Macleay River Co-operative Steamship Co.

[Macleay River Co-operative Steamship Co. houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010

Macleay River Co-operative Steamship Co. Operated the "Tamban" in 1915 apparently selling it in the same year, though this is not clear, for the Macleay Farmers Co-op Society. The Log of 11/1996 has the flag as blue with a yellow diamond bearing a blue "M".
Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010


McIlwraith McEacharn Ltd.

[McIlwrath McEacharn Ltd. houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010

McIlwrath McEacharn Ltd. Originated 1875 [Lloyds quote 1884 so there may be doubt] in London and originally traded as the Scottish Line, also basing itself in Melbourne which eventually became its base, and is still operating. The flag has a resemblance to the Scottish Royal Standard with the early sources (Liverpool Journal of Commerce and Griffin both 1883 showing yellow with a red lion rampant within a red frame.

[McIlwrath McEacharn Ltd. houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010

This version is shown thereafter by most sources up until around WW2 except for Talbot-Booth who drops the frame but comments that it did once have a border as in the Scottish Flag [Merchant Ships 1942].

[McIlwrath McEacharn Ltd. houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010

Then the Brown editions from 1943, Stewart 1963 and The Log 1985 restored the frame, but as a double one and, whilst Stewart and The Log retained the lion rampant, Brown made it passant.
Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010


McLean's Roylen Cruises Pty. Ltd

[McLean's Roylen Cruises Pty. Ltd houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010

McLean's Roylen Cruises Pty. Ltd. Based Mackay and cruising the Barrier Reef until recently, they use a deep orange [noted as "rather than red" so must be capable of being taken as either] flag with a white circle edged blue bearing a blue "R" slightly slanted, the emblem being placed towards the hoist as per The Log 11/1990.
Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010


McMekan, Blackwood & Co.

[McMekan, Blackwood & Co. houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010

McMekan, Blackwood & Co. Known as the Blue Emu Line and operated by James McMekan and John Blackwood operating in partnership from 1852, forming the Adelaide, Melbourne & Otago S.S. Co. in 1856 and ceasing operations in 1878. The flag was blue with a white circle bearing a blue emu and in each corner of the flag a white star. Source The Log 8/1986.
Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010


Melbourne Steamship Company

[Melbourne image by James Dignan, 10 Oct 2003

A blue flag, with a white horizontal band crossed by a red vertical band. The letters "M S Coy" are spread across the white band, with the "S" placed on the red band.
Source: The dumpy book of ships and the sea [sam57]
James Dignan, 10 October 2003

The Melbourne Steamship Company was formed in 1895 from a merger of three shipping companies.
Phil Nelson, 10 October 2003

According to articles in The Log (Nautical Assn. of Australia) the white and red bands were broad and the lettering was "MSCo" not "MSCoy" with the "o" not being enhanced although an illustration in Marine News 7/1970 shows it being enhanced. This publication shows an image in black and white and does not specify the lettering colour, showing it, like Sampson [sam57], in black. The Log is more specific giving the "M" and "Co" as blue and the "S" as white and portrayed as being slightly larger though it is noted that a company menu, and possibly an actual flag, are known to have shown all blue lettering.
Neale Rosanoski, 17 January 2005


Melbourne Steam Ship Co.

[Melbourne Steam Ship Co. houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010

Melbourne Steam Ship Co. An unincorporated company under which Captain William Howard Smith, founder of Howard Smith Ltd., operated until 1883. The flag was red with a black diamond placed centrally and per field corners the white letters "MSSCo" from The Log 5/1988.
Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010


Metro Meat Ltd.

[Metro Meat Ltd. houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010

Metro Meat Ltd. of Adelaide was involved in shipping both live sheep and carcasses with chartered shipping, their flag being white charged with a green stylized "M" logo from The Log 5/1987.
Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010


R.W. Miller & Co. Pty. Ltd.

[R.W. Miller & Co. Pty. Ltd. houseflag and funnel] [R.W. Miller & Co. Pty. Ltd. houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010

R.W. Miller & Co. Pty. Ltd. Originally involved from 1907 in stevedoring and lighterage in Sydney, mainly in the coal trade, R.W. Miller & Co. Ltd. was formed in 1919 changing 1938 to R.W. Miller & Co. Pty. Ltd. Later owned by Howard Smith Ltd. and then Coal & Allied Industries Ltd. fading away from the shipping scene in the early 1990s. The original flag was blue with a yellow saltire and the yellow letters "RWMCo." In the respective quarters sourced from Brown 1958, US Navy 1961 and The Log 5/1985, later changed with the addition of an ampersand as recorded by The Log 8/1987.
Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010


Moreton Tug & Barge Co. Pty. Ltd.

[Moreton Tug & Barge Co. Pty. Ltd. houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010

Moreton Tug & Barge Co. Pty. Ltd. Based in Brisbane and formed 1975, its tugs were merged into the fleet of Riverside Coal Transport Co. Pty. Ltd. around the end of the 1980s with The Log showing a flag of a horizontal biband of blue over red and overall the white letters "MTB".
Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010


Murray Steamship & Tourist Co. Pty. Ltd.

[Murray Steamship & Tourist Co. Pty. Ltd.  houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010

Murray Steamship & Tourist Co. Pty. Ltd. Operated the paddle steamer "Canberra" on the River Murray from 1970 to 1992 with The Log 5/1981 giving a flag based on the Murray River Ensign with a flag bearing a red cross charged with 5 white stars, the 1st quarter being white with the black [assumed] letters "MSTC" and the other 3 quarters of the field each having 4 horizontal bands of white/blue.
Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010


Nauru Corp. (Victoria), Inc.

[Nauru Corp. (Victoria) Inc. flag] image by Jarig Bakker, 18 Dec 2005

Nauru Corp. (Victoria) Inc., Melbourne - blue flag, in center white 12-pointed star, charged with a yellow standing anchor outlined blue. (note that the Nauru-star has been redone by the ship's carpenter/flaggenist).
Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels of Shipping Companies of the World [lgr95].
Jarig Bakker, 18 December 2005


Newcastle Steamship Co.

[Newcastle Steamship Co.  houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010

Newcastle Steamship Co. Operated between 1874 and 1891 before merging into the Newcastle & Hunter River Steamship Co. Ltd. The flag was white with a red diamond from The Log 2/1992.
Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010


Nicoll Brothers of Sydney

[Nicoll Brothers of Sydney houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010

Nicoll Brothers of Sydney. Scottish migrants operating from about 1877 until 1905 both on the Richmond and Tweed as well as intercolonial and to the Islands in a series of partnerships or joint ventures as well as in their own name. George continued until 1905 but younger brother Bruce got out of shipping about 1899. According to a description in The Log of 8/1991 and 2/1992 their flag was red with a white rectangle bearing a blue "N"
Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010


North Coast Steam Navigation Co. Ltd.

[North Coast S.N. Co. Ltd flag] image by Jarig Bakker, 17 Jan 2005

North Coast S.N. Co. Ltd., Sydney N.S.W.: quartered flag of blue and red; in all quarters white "NCSCo.".
Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies [wed26].
Jarig Bakker, 17 January 2005

North Coast Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. Formed 1891 by the merger of John See & Co. and the Clarence, Richmond & Macleay Rivers Steam Navigation Co. finally folding into voluntary liquidation in 1954.
Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010


North West Shelf Shipping Service Co. Pty. Ltd.

North West Shelf Shipping Service Co. Pty. Ltd. houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010

North West Shelf Shipping Service Co. Pty. Ltd. A consortium formed by 7 companies including Broken Hill Pty. Co. Ltd. and Woodside Petroleum Ltd. to operate a fleet of LPG carriers from Dampier to Japan although their name does not appear in Lloyds with the ships being handled through Australian LNG Ship Operating Co. Pty. Ltd. The flag from The Log 2/1992 is blue with towards base a narrow red band edged white and above this the white lower case letters slightly slanted of "nws". I assume that the shade of blue is a deep sky in line with that of the ship funnels.
Neale Rosanoski, 9 March 2010


Oceangas Services Australia Pty. Ltd.

[Oceangas Services Australia Pty. Ltd flag] image by Eugene Ipavec, 2 April 2012

This interesting flag is displayed at the Low Head Pilot Station Museum (Tasmania, AU).
Aleksandar Nemet, 13 March 2010

The ensign at the Low Head Pilot Station is the house flag of Oceangas Services Australia Pty. Ltd..
Neale Rosanoski, 20 March 2010

 A very dark blue, with the southern cross in white in the hoist half, stars with 7 and 5 points as in the Australian national flag, but tilted slightly towards the upper hoist corner. In the fly is a fish in white outlined black, "breathing" a red flame.
Jonathan Dixon, 2 April 2012

The very same fish appears on the house flag of the French shipping company "Gazocean", probably not the result of a mere coincidence.
Ivan Sache, 2 April 2012


O'May Shipping Company

Post 1912
[O'May Shipping Company houseflag post-1912] image by Eugene Ipavec, 10 Aug 2009

The site of the State Library of Tasmania briefly presents the O’May shipping company:

“Robert O'May (...) with his brothers, Thomas and James founded the Hobart-Bellerive ferry service. (...) In 1912 the O'May Brothers who owned and operated the trans-Derwent ferries merged with the Rosny Estates Company to encourage property development on the Eastern Shore. The venture failed and the company folded but the O'Mays continued their ferry service. However it became largely redundant when the floating arch bridge (in Hobart) was opened in 1943.”
O'May operations started, I believe, in 1870.

A small house flag (part of a display set, not an original) is presented here (image clickable). Described as “red with a black and white centre”, this really means a red field bearing, in the centre, a disk horizontally divided white above black.
Jan Mertens, 10 August 2009

Pre-1912 (before merger)
[O'May Shipping Company houseflag before 1912 merger] image by Eugene Ipavec, 19 Aug 2009

More pictures from SLT show a disk divided white above blue, such as found in a 1910 Christmas card. This and similar pictures originated before 1912 showing a conjectural O’May house flag preceding the 1912 merger.
Jan Mertens, 10 August 2009

O'May Brothers, Ferry operators in Hobart from 1863 with a red flag having a white circle divided horizontally white over blue as shown by The Log 2/1991. The actual flag as displayed by the State Library of Tasmania site has the circle slightly smaller and appears to show the circle as white and black. However a close look at the photo appears to show blue tints suggesting that the black is actually a dark blue. In 1912 the brothers merged into the Rosny Estates & Ferry Co. retaining the flag. The company went into liquidation in 1926 but in 1927 it was restructured as O'May Bros. Pty. Ltd. and continued trading until 1939 when the Tasmanian Government legislated that the Hobart Bridge Co. Ltd. have sole rights to transport across the Derwent River.
Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010


Origin Energy Contracting Ltd.

[Origin Energy Contracting Ltd. houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010

Boral Gas Ltd. Formed in 1946 as Bitumen & Oil Refineries (Australia) Ltd. it changed to Boral Ltd. in 1964. They appear to have entered shipping around 1968 through their subsidiary Liquefied Gas Carriers (Fiji) Ltd. who flew their flag, then taking direct control of the fleet around 1990, their flag, from The Log 8/1985, being white with a horizontally halved panel of yellow over green placed below the black legend "BORAL". At the end of 1999 the energy side of the Boral business was separated from the building and construction materials side and placed under a new company, Origin Energy Contracting Ltd. Their flag, being white containing the first two words of their title, and is made a bit interesting by the use of differing colours [see larger image taken from a funnel photo to more clearly show the makeup of the "O"], the flag being sighted and photographed by myself being flown by the "Pacific Gas" in 2003.
Neale Rosanoski, 7 March 2010


Orion Expedition Cruises Pty. Ltd.

[Orion Expedition Cruises Pty. houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010

Orion Expedition Cruises Pty. Ltd. Formed Sydney in 2004 and commenced cruises in 2005 with the chartered "Orion" flying a blue flag bearing a white emblem of an "O", the sides of which appear to narrow in a 3 dimensional effect, pierced by a spear placed aslant with point to upper fly. The flag has been taken from their website (http://www.orioncruises.co.au) and a photo of the ship.
Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010


Pacific Tug Pty. Ltd.

[Pacific Tug Pty. Ltd. houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010

Pacific Tug Pty. Ltd. Was a tug operator at Brisbane owned by the Peters brothers until 1987 when bought out by Adelaide Steam and Howard Smith Ltd. The Log of 2/1989 gives a red flag with a white "P".
Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010


James Paterson & Co. Pty. Ltd.

[James Paterson & Co. Pty. Ltd. houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010

James Paterson & Co. Pty. Ltd. Formed Melbourne in the 1850s and originally involved in the coal trade and towage, the company eventually ended up in 1961 owned by Boral Gas Ltd. and its ships were disposed of. The flag, from Lloyds 1904 & 1912, Talbot-Booth 1937-1949, Loughran 1979 and The Log 11/1988, shows as blue with a yellow cross surmounted by a red cross paty, and in the field corners the white letters "JP&Co".
Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010


James Patrick & Co. Pty. Ltd.

James Patrick & Co. Pty. Ltd. Originated 1919 with James Patrick forming the Patrick Steamship Co. Ltd. which went into liquidation in 1923. In 1925 he bounced back to form James Patrick & Co. Ltd. which adopted its current name in 1938. A shipowner until 1962, the company became involved in shore activities as agents and then as a major force in stevedoring. It has now declined and is noted in government records as being in the process of voluntary liquidation. The flag had Scottish tones being yellow with a red thistle within a double tressure flory counter flory which is covered by Talbot-Booth Merchant Ships 1949, Brown 1943 & 1951 and The Log 5/1988. The Brown editions show it in the name of the Patrick S.S. Co. Ltd.
Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010


Papuan Liner Services Pty. Ltd.

[Papuan Liner Services Pty. Ltd. houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010

Papuan Liner Services Pty. Ltd. A joint venture of two Australian companies in the 1970s with a red flag having a yellow border top and bottom and bearing a white diamond bearing the black letters "PSL" from The Log 5/1986.
Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010


Pilbara Harbour Services Pty. Ltd.

[Pilbara Harbour Services Pty. Ltd. houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010

Pilbara Harbour Services Pty. Ltd. Formed in 1974 with amongst its services being tug operations until around the late 1990s and it now goes by the name of Pilbara Bus Services Pty. Ltd. Its flag, from The Log 8/1991 and Sea Breezes 6/1979, was blue with a yellow triangle issuant from the hoist displaying a tug and along the hoist in vertical line the letters "PHS" all in blue.
Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010


PNG Express

[PNG Express houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010

PNG Express. Another service operated out of Australia by Schoeller Holdings Ltd., the flag logo shown on their website http://www.schoeller-holdings.com shows an orange field with a blue border chief and base and the blue letters "PNG". Possible the group colours are meant to be standard though the images and the funnel colours indicate that they do in fact vary with the orange in some cases being more of an air-sea rescue reddish shade.
Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010


Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Co. Ltd.

[Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Co. Ltd. houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010

The Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Co. Ltd. Originated in 1877 as the Port Jackson Steam Boat Co. Ltd. with the colours of the original flag unknown but being a dark saltire on a light field. In 1881 it was reincorporated as the Port Jackson Steamship Co. Ltd. and by the 1890s was using a red flag with a white cross and in the quarters the white letters "PJSCo".

[Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Co. Ltd. houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010

1896 saw a name change to the Port Jackson Co-operative Steamship Co. Ltd. with the flag amended by placing a red "C" on the white cross.

[Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Co. Ltd. houseflag and funnel] image by Miles Li, 7 February 2015

[Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Co. Ltd. houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010

It was reincorporated again in 1907 as The Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Co. Ltd., being the spelling of "Steamship" in government records but as "Steam Ship" in others including Lloyds who have always used two words. This had lead to a further change in the lettering with a second "S" added to the 3rd quarter and the "C" replaced by an "M" but by 1923 it was decided that "Steamship" was a single word and the extra "S" was deleted. Somewhat hair-splitting on this point I suggest as some other early companies lived quite happily with it being two words but possibly what was intended is not what ended up in the official records (sources Sydney Ferry Fleets by A.M. Prescott and The Log 5/1986 and 5/1989).
Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010

 Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company (incorporated on 23 January 1877; taken over by Sydney Ferries on 1 December 1974).
Miles Li, 7 February 2015


Project Asia Services B.V.

[Project Asia Services B.V. houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010

Project Asia Services B.V. was another Schoeller Holdings Netherlands based company that operated out of Australia from Port Pirie. The website flag showing a blue field with an orange border chief and base the orange letters "PAS". From the beginning of 2006 this company merged with Austral Asia Line B.V. and continued to trade out of Brisbane as Austral Asia Line.
Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010


Charles Pullen

[Charles Pullen houseflag and funnel] image by Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010

Charles Pullen. Operated ferries on the Clarence River from the 1880s for 60 years with a plain red tapered flag with a square point, from The Log 5/1992.
Neale Rosanoski, 10 March 2010