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Swiss Shipping Company, Switzerland

image by San Pavlos

About the flag

See also:

About the Flag

Exact shadings used in the flag are uncertain.
San Pavlos, 25 December 2002

Swiss Shipping Co. Originated 1919 as an inland shipping company Schweizerische Schleppschiffahrts-Genossenschaft which was later changed to Schweizerische Reederei A.G. or the Swiss Shipping Co. Ltd. Its first ocean going vessel was the "Calandra" which was acquired in 1939 and registered in Panama as Switzerland at that stage did not have a merchant ship registry. This was changed by Government decree 9.4.1941 enabling the vessel to officially hoist the Swiss flag for
the first time 19.4.1941 [detail from http://www.shiss-ships.com].

They apparently acquired a stake in Alpina Reederei AG and this company at some stage appears to have become operators for Swiss Shipping who, in due course with changes of ownership and mergers, seem to have ended up as part of the Alpina Group which in turn ended up as part of the Rhenus Group. Whatever, their existence as ship-owners seems to have ended about the end of the 1970s.

The flag shown by San Pavlos may have existed although the only source I have found showing it is in the 1st edition of Stewart (1953) which was first published in 1953 with 5 impressions through to 1959 with the 4th in 1957 also showing this version. The 5th is given as being revised so it may have been changed. The more likely version, to me, is the usual Swiss couped cross that is shown by Brown 1958 and US Navy 1961 together with Walter Michaels in his "Unvergessene Dampfschiffahrt auf Rhein und Donau". In this the cross in the canton is couped i.e. it is the same as shown on this site for Alpina Reederei AG. The swiss-ships site also link this flag to Alpina and list all the ships under this company, not listing anything in the name Swiss Shipping. As Michaels gives the formation date of Schweizerische Schleppschiffahrt as 1919 the flag would appear to have originally been theirs with Alpina inheriting it subsequently.
Neale Rosanoski, 2 August 2010

image by Eugene Ipavec, 10 August 2010

It is also shown by "Flaggen auf dem Rhein" under Schweizerische Reederei A.G. as one of 3 companies using this design but in this case the red canton extends down further to the top of the 3rd of the blue stripes [see ch~s1372.gif attached] whereas the other quoted sources have it only to the bottom of the 2nd of the blue stripes.
Neale Rosanoski, 2 August 2010