Last modified: 2008-08-09 by dov gutterman
Keywords: italy | houseflag | house flag |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
See also:
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 13 July 2008
At the 1940 Spanish source at <www.24flotilla.com>
(fourth of third complete row): House flag of Soc[ietà]
“La Columbia”, Genoa - White cross throughout
defining four fields: upper fields red (hoist) and green (fly),
lower fields green (hoist) and red (fly); on the cross are placed
seven five-pointed stars, five on the horizontal arms and two on
the vertical arms
When compared to the funnel on the left, which is partly black,
the stars seem to be dark blue. This flag with blue stars would
then be a combination of the national colours with the
alternative Italian colour.
According to <oceania.pbwiki.com>
(mostly a place holder, as yet), the complete company name was
‘"La Columbia" Società Marittima per
Trasporto di Petrolio e Derivati’: i.e. “The
Columbian”, Shipping Co. for the Transportation of Oil and
Derivates’.
It is difficult to find coherent information on a firm mentioned
in the 1940 source. On the internet a few tankers are mentioned
for instance ‘Esso Venezia’ (built 1955), ‘Esso
Napoli’ (built 1961), and ‘Pleiades’ (operated
from 1969 on). Luckily a web
file (in Italian) celebrating 115 years of Esso’s
presence in Italy gives the dates: founded 1917 to help with
wartime oil transportation, integrated into Esso Italiana in
1973.
Jan Mertens, 6 March 2008
image by Jarig Bakker, 19 February 2005
La Creola Soc. Anon., Genoa - Green-red-white-red-green
burgee; on white: black "LA CREOLA".
Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign
Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Jarig Bakker, 19 February 2005
See also: Alta Italia
image by Jarig Bakker, 18 December 2004
Societá Anonima di Navigazione "La Sicania",
Trapani - blue flag, over all white diamond charged with red
"S"; in all corners a white 6-pointed star.
Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign
Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Jarig Bakker, 18 December 2004
The history of this shipping company here (with image of house
flag) at <www.theshipslist.com>:
"La Veloce Linea di Navigazione Italiana a Vapore was
founded in 1884 to run services between Italy and South America
(...). The company was taken over in 1883 by M. Bruzzi & Co
who formed La Veloce. (...) The firm of Fratelli Lavarello
(...) was taken over together with their fleet in 1891. In 1900
Italian banks and Navigazione Generale
Italiana commenced buying out German shareholders and by 1901
the company was effectively controlled by NGI and the official
name became La Veloce Navigazione Italiana a Vapore. La Veloce
was absorbed into NGI in 1924 and was liquidated as a seperate
company." A slightly bigger picture (is this St George
slaying the dragon on this Genoan firm's flag?) here: <planeta.terra.com.br>
and lower on the same page, another poster showing it.
Jan Mertens, 22 December 2003
Acording to Mystic Seaport: Lloyd's Book of House Flags and
Funnels at <www.mysticseaport.org>,
I believe I can confirm tha this is St George slaying the dragon,
although the design is still rather small (a line drawing, not
coloured). It's flag no. 1249 on p. 61 of chapter "House
Flags and Funnels of Steam Vessels".
Jan Mertens, 22 December 2003
There is a good image
on the Maritime
Timetable Images website, showing a poster dating from
1913. St George and the dragon are quite clear, and
although the drawing is uncoloured the shield has a red cross of
Genoa.
On above poster, other symbols are also shown: the five-pointed
red star as painted on the funnels and the company seal featuring
the house flag.
Jan Mertens, 15 April 2007
image by Jarig Bakker, 14 July 2004
From <www.timetableimages.com>:
Flotta Lauro (or Lauro Lines), Naples: a blue swallowtail bearing
a white five-pointed star.
At <planeta.terra.com.br>,
More blue swallowtails here, together with a short history (in
Italian: I understand the firm began business as a cargo shipper
in 1912 and, going bankrupt in 1980, was sold off to the Mediterranean Shipping
Company).
From <paginas.terra.com.br>:
"Il "Comandante" morò nel 1978 e due anni dopo la
Lauro Lines entrò in fallimento. Fu venduta alla MSC (o
Mediterranean Shipping Company che chiamò la flotta acquistata
prima Starlauro e poi Mediterranean Shipping Company",
meaning that two years after the Commander's death in 1978 Lauro
Lines went bankrupt and was sold to MSC which company first
called its acquisition Starlauro and later imposed its own name.
All white stars on these pages, sometimes on a tapering flag
(drawn not photographed).
Jan Mertens, 14 July 2004 and 22 February 2007
Brown (author: F. J. N. Wedge, 1951) [wed51] list this as "Achille
Lauro, Naples".
Jarig Bakker, 14 July 2004
image by Jarig Bakker, 21 February 2007
image by Jarig Bakker, 21 February 2007
Post card collection [o9oXXb]
shows a a blue swallowtail flag with a large yellow star on it.
According to <www.simplonpc.co.uk>,
<www.timetableimages.com>
and <paginas.terra.com.br>
(among many other sources on line), this star should be white,
but the star is not dense and much larger than in [wed51].
At <www.simplonpc.co.uk>,
the company logo shows a tappering flagoid. Was it so?
At <www.ssmaritime.com>,
it says that "Lauro Lines merged with the Chandris Line in
1985" and that "in 1987 (…) the Lauro Line became
Star Lauro". In our page Jan Mertens says that the company
went "bankrupt in 1980" and "was sold off to the
Mediterranean Shipping Company". At <www.simplonpc.co.uk>,
it says that it was sold "to the Mediterranean Shipping
Company in 1987, with its subsequent renaming as StarLauro, then
MSC". The original company name (or nickname) was apparently
Flotta Lauro.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 21 February 2007
At the 1940 page at <www.24flotilla.com>:
"Achille Lauro", Naples - A different shade of blue
(not significant in this case, I believe) and a white star which
is small and not fat. The swallowtail is indeed not tapered.
Jan Mertens, 8 January 2008
See also: Mediterranean Shipping Company
image by Jarig Bakker, 14 July 2004
From Brown (1951) - Lauro & Montella, Naples - I guess
this is related: blue with a yellow diamond, charged with blue
letters turned L - M - L.
Jarig Bakker, 14 July 2004
image by Jarig Bakker, 1 September 2005
Rimorchiatori Laziali S.p.A., Rome - white flag, blue
fly-diagonal; in top hoist blue "R", in fly bottom blue
"L".
Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of
the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995.
Jarig Bakker, 1 September 2005
"Rimorchiatori" are tugboats (in French,
"remorqueurs"). "Laziali" might be the
adjective form of "Lazio", Latium.
Ivan Sache, 2 September 2005
image by Jarig Bakker, 11 July 2004
.gif)
Emblem
image from <www.lnianzio.org>
From the Maritime Timetable Images, this 1933 poster of the
Lega Navale Italiana <www.timetableimages.com>
showing a flag or pennant with a cross throughout and an emblem
centrally on that cross, featuring a crowned anchor, a star, a
fasces, an ornamental letter L and a band bearing the words 'Mare
Nostrum' (Our Sea, as the Romans said). The flag's field
may have been blue and the cross white as in the picture.
Apparently this last entity still exists, only the emblem has
understandably been changed <www.lnianzio.org> with the
words 'Lega Navale Italiana' on the band and ornamental letters
LNI on a disk. Anchor, stars and letters yellow (or gold),
band white with dark blue letters and disk light blue.
As a bonus, what appears to be the LNI's burgee: dark blue
pennant with white cross throughout and the emblem centrally on
the cross (in white, blue and gold).
LNI history (in Italian) at <www.leganavale.it>.
Founded in 1897. Left of text, a 1938 picture
(pennant). This chief site's emblem has gold letters and a
rather dark blue disk.
Jan Mertens, 29 December 2003
image by Jarig Bakker, 5 January 2006
Navigazione Libera del Golfo, S.r.l. (Vessels operating from
Sorrento), Naples - blue flag, in top hoist white 5-pointed star;
at fly a white standing ladder with 6 rungs.
Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of
the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995.
Jarig Bakker, 5 January 2006
image by Jarig Bakker, 18 December 2004
Libera Giovanni Racich, Trieste - blue flag, white standing
anchor, charged with white "R".
Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign
Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Jarig Bakker, 18 December 2004
This also soud like Italinization of a Slavic name Ivan Racic
(as was usual at the time), so quite possibly the company
originated on the easter Adriatic coast (where Trieste was one of
the most important ports after all). However, I have not found
any reference to Racic in my files.
Željko Heimer, 18 December 2004
One of the many Italian house flags shown in the 1940
Spanish source is the house
flag of ‘Società Ligure di Armamento’ (Ligurian
Shipowning Co.) - Vertically divided light blue (hoist) and white
(fly), a coat of arms – within a yellow cartouche – in
the centre. Unfortunately the image is not very clear:
the chief of Genoa (argent a cross gules) is easy to spot but the
main charge poses a problem: gules, three [objects] or
placed two and one.
The company name crops up on these pages (in Italian) relating
the business enterprise of the Piaggio family, active in
shipping, the sugar and stearine industry, and now, it seems, in
real estate (see: <www.lagaiana.it>.
Traces of ships were found on the net between 1927 and 1949;
Ligure seems to have been merged into the La Gaiana concern in
1986.
Jan Mertens, 28 January 2008
image by Jarig Bakker, 24 January 2005
Lloyd del Pacifico, Savona - white flag, blue anchor; in
canton horizontal RWR stripes; in fly-bottom red "Z".
Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign
Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26].
Jarig Bakker, 24 January 2005
Established at Savona in Liguria, between Genoa and the French
border, this company had the horizontal version of the town flag in the canton. The anchor
seems self-evident, while the `Z' refers to the founder's family
name as explained on the Ships
List: "The Zino Line was formed in Savona, Italy in 1889
to run services between Genoa and South America. Sailings were
also made to New Orleans from 1900 and to New York between
1902-1906. By 1908 the company had ceased carrying passengers,
but there was increased emigration to Chile, so Zino formed the
Societa Lloyd del Pacifico to which he transferred his passenger
ships."
The on-line 1912
Lloyds Flags & Funnels also shows this flag: Last of
second row, No. 1245 `Lloyd del Pacifico Società Anónima
(Giuseppe Zino, Fu.D.), Savona'. Differences in artistic
rendition are not important here, I trust. I have to guess at the
meaning of `Fu.D.
Jan Mertens, 28 June 2007
A house flag from a shipping company in Genoa. I've come
across: <planeta.terra.com.br>.
Dates given 1904-1918, and some history here at <www.theshipslist.com>:
" The Lloyd Italiano Line was formed in Genoa in 1904 by
Erasmo Piaggio to operate passenger services to North and South
America. The company came under the control of Navigazione
Generale Italiana in 1911 and became completely absorbed in
1918."
The company flag is blue with a white diamond touching the flag's
edges but... exactly what emblem is in the centre? Could it
be like the watermarks i.e. initials and an anchor? Does
anyone have a clue?
Jan Mertens, 22 December 2003
Acording to Mystic Seaport: Lloyd's Book of House Flags and
Funnels at <www.mysticseaport.org>,
The flag in question is no. 1554 on p. 75 of the steam vessel
chapter. Emblem on white diamond: blue disk with initials LIL
(the first one in mirror-image), said disk encircled by yellow
laurel branches (?) and a yellow anchor placed behind same disk.
Jan Mertens, 22 December 2003
To be more exact, as there was an earlier company this name
[no flag known], this one was Lloyd Italiano Società di
Navigazione. My copy of Lloyds 1912 does not give a clear image
as far as the letters are concerned and they look to be white.
According to Bonsor the flag was blue, there was a large white
diamond and the charge was a yellow anchor surmounted by a blue
circle bearing the yellow letters "LI" and I have in my
notes a similar record which is unfortunately not sourced.
Certainly the letters seem more logical thought the diamond seems
more likely to be throughout going by the <planeta.terra.com.br>
image. Bonsor does not mention any surrounding leaves but Lloyds
is certainly clear on this point. Consequently my guess is a
combination of the sources. See here.
Neale Rosanoski, 22 July 2004
If you look at the filigrane of the document in the link
provided by Neale, you see that the letters are (mirrored L) - I
- L (the 'scontrino' part shows it even better). But during
checking I landed on this nearby page, showing a Lloyd Italiano?
flag on a 1910 menu: horizontal VWV, bearing some emblem: <planeta.terra.com.br>.
According to 'The Ships List' website, the firm was founded in
1904, taken over in 1911 by the Navigazione Generale Italiana and
absorbed in 1918: <www.theshipslist.com>.
So perhaps the former house flag has really come to light. The
point in time seems to bolster my little theory, but we need
clearer pictures for that!
Jan Mertens, 23 July 2004
A picture of the Lloyd
Italiano house flag is at 1905
poster. Drawings of non-waving items dating from 1912
(on-line Lloyds Flags & Funnels, see last flag on page) and
1913 (Handbook of Signalling, see first of penultimate row) are
respectively at <www.gwpda.org>
and <www.mysticseaport.org>.
Jan Mertens, 19 June 2007
This card at <www.cartolineantiche.it>
gives a better image of the emblem:
Mirrored initial ‘L’ / long ‘I’ /
‘L’, very sharp letters and not placed on a disk,
either.
An earlier flag is
shown in Griffin’s 'Flags national and
mercantile' of 1891 [gfi83]: no.
317 (plate 15, steam vessels). There is already the
white diamond, touching the edges, and a blue hoist; but the fly
is red and the diamond contains a meagre blue ‘I.I.’
which somehow does not seem enough!
Was this a faulty rendition, then?
Jan Mertens, 19 May 2008
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 6 July 2007
A recent Maritime
Timetable Images’ update presents Lloyd Latino, an
Italian company: url followed by quote, slightly edited:
“Lloyd Latino was a subsidiary of the French company
Société Générale de Transports Maritimes (SGTM). The Valdivia
[shown on the brochure, jm] was owned by that company and was
used in a joint operation of SGTM and Lloyd Latino.”
This brochure was issued in June 1924 and concerned a voyage
linking Naples, Genoa, and Marseilles to South American ports.
Moreover the full company name is mentioned (adding
‘Società Anonima Italiana di Navigazione’, the
equivalent of “Italian Navigation Co. Ltd”) as is the
company seat, Naples. Also shown is the house flag which is white, a
blue (?) holding line dividing it into four parts: red cross
throughout in red (Genoa) in upper
hoist and blue cross throughout in blue (Marseilles,
seat of SGTM) in lower fly; lower hoist and upper fly containing
a blue initial ‘L’ (serifed).
For the moment I have no idea when this firm was founded or when
it was wound up; it still existed in 1928.
Jan Mertens, 23 April 2007
I think the dividing lines are black, or at least of a much
darker blue. Conjectural ratio 3:5.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 6 July 2007
image by Jarig Bakker, 14 July 2004
At home I have a stout "Larousse Commercial
Illustré" (a kind of trade encyclopedia) published in
Paris, 1930. It has four pages in colour illustrating house
flags; a note identifies it as the work of Sandy Hook.
In this book, I found Lloyd Sabaudo, Genova: white, in the centre
the characteristic Savoy eagle in blue bearing a red oval shield
on the breast and a yellow... speck(?) over its head.
On this Italian page however, see the last image: <planeta.terra.com.br>
bearing in mind that here, the eagle looks the other way whereas
at flag sold on eBay it was in the same position as Sandy Hook
draws it. It is clear that the 'speck' is meant to be the
royal Italian crown, even if the actual house flag was not all
that detailed. But on the net we also find a completely different
flag, albeit borne by an eagle at on-line
1912 Lloyds (no. 1293 being ‘Lloyd Sabaudo Società
Anonima per Azioni, Genoa etc.’), i.e. diagonally divided
from top hoist corner to lower fly, white and green (green
uppermost), a black monogram LS on the white triangle. This
menu dating from 1910, may we suppose that the more patriotic
flag S.H. shows was introduced after WWI?
Jan Mertens, 20 December 2003
Formed in 1906 it merged in 1932 into what eventually became
Italia di Navigazione S.p.A. According to Bonsor the original
flag of the green and white diagonal biband was changed in 1914
to that of white with the eagle of Savoy and a yellow crown,
there being a close association with the Royal House of that
name. All of the shipping sources agree that the eagle is blue
and in design basically conforms with that shown on the planeta
site rather than the military source shown here.
Neale Rosanoski, 22 July 2004
Small image of eagle, appearing on second flag, on a company
share and, somewhat better, on this envelope
(second photo, clickable). It also appears at the German
Flaggenbuch (1928 ed. part II, no. 361 on p. 64) renders the flag better than Sandy
Hook does.
Jan Mertens, 26 April 2008
image by Ivan Sache, 9 November 2003
Lloyd Sardegna Compagnia di Navigazione S.r.l. was formed in
1990 and is the shipowning subsidiary of Compagnia Sarda di
Navigazione Marittima S.r.l. which in turn is a subsidiary of
Marsano Armatori S.a.s. who were once directly involved in
shipping and flew a white flag with a red cross (Genoa based)
with the fesse point towards the hoist and a blue "M"
surmounting the sinister arm of the cross.
Neale Rosanoski, 11 April 2003
Lloyd Sardegna (Genoa - Livorno) - White flag with a blue
cross, a red letter L in the first quarter and a red letter S in
the fourth quarter.
Ivan Sache, 9 November 2003
image by Jorge Candeias, 12 Febuary 1999
A very dark red and white vertical bicolour, the red part
charged with a skinny fleur-de-lys and the white part charged
with a very dark red cross throughout.
Jorge Candeias, 12 Febuary 1999
Original of Lloyd Triestino di Navigazione S.P.A flag from
http://www.lloydtriestino.it (defunct) can be seen here.
Dov Gutterman, 2 Febuary 1999
Lloyd Triestino di Navigazione S.p.A. originated 1833 as Lloyd
Austriaco which entered shipping in 1836 and was variously known
as Austrian Lloyd, Osterreichischer Lloyd, Austro Hungarian Lloyd
Steam Navigation Co. or Austrian Lloyds Steam Navigation Co. A
similar variation is shown with its flag with the colour blue
being consistent but the yellow charge being either a foul anchor
topped with a bishop's style crown placed erect, the charge
placed diagonally per bend or placed vertical with a more
elaborate crown and being above a yellow scroll inscribed
"VORWÆRTS". In 1919 it became Lloyd Triestino and
switched from Austria to Italy. The first flag under this name
was blue with in the canton a coronet above a foul anchor placed
diagonally per bend and in lower fly the half spear with all
charges being white although Brown 1929 reverses the flag.
However it seem unlikely that charges would be placed in upper
fly and lower hoist. One source states that this flag was used
until 1935 but this is a bit suspect as Brown 1934 shows the
current flag which is the reverse of Italia di Navigazione Srl
with the same derivations.
Neale Rosanoski, 11 April 2003
At home I have a stout "Larousse Commercial
Illustré" (a kind of trade encyclopedia) published in
Paris, 1930. It has four pages in colour illustrating house
flags; a note identifies it as the work of Sandy Hook.
In this book, I found LLoyd Triestino, Trieste: blue with two
emblems, both white: tophoist corner: combined anchor + letters
'L' and 'T', crowned; lower fly, corner: a spearhead, such as in
the city's Coat of Arms.
A 1928 picture of the flag here: <www.timetableimages.com>
and a photo (at least I think so) here: <www.lloydtriestino.it>.
These emblems' respective positions on the flag are unlikely, as
Neale Rosanoski remarked, but it must have been so nevertheless;
the flag's dates remain 1919-1934 or 1935.
Jan Mertens, 20 December 2003
In 2006 the Shipping Company Lloyd Triestino changed its name
in Italia Marittima. New brand and logo are at <www.italiamarittima.com>.
The flags of the Company are at another
page of this website.
Valentin Poposki, 6 October 2006
Post card collection [o9oXXb]
confirms the basic design above: Trieste's white halebard on red
and Genoa's St. George cross, but uses regular red; I suggest
that the R++ shade used once in <www.lloydtriestino.it>>
was an artistic license with no contrastive value against regular
red.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 21 February 2007
At the 1940 page at <www.24flotilla.com>:
"Lloyd Triestino", Trieste - The previous blue flag
(used in 1928 documented) is shown to have been superseded.
Here is a link to b/w photo at <www.italiamarittima.it>.
Jan Mertens, 5 January 2008
Neale Rosanoski describes the Lloyd Triestino’s
blue flag but has his doubts about the placement of the emblems.
Although the Maritime Timetable link leads to a picture
confirming their position, the flag is drawn flying in the wind
so this does not provide a perfect clue.
Sandy Hook’s image published in 1930 shows initials
‘L’ and ‘T’ accompanying the anchor, placing
this emblem in the upper hoist and the spearhead in the lower
fly. This page
from a forum concerning Trieste (in Italian) shows a cap emblem.
However a picture
from the German Flaggenbuch (1928 ed., part I, No. 53 on –
also – p. 53), shows the company emblem taking up the entire
hoist (no initials) plus a rather sketchy spearhead admittedly in
the lower fly. The firm’s name has the form adopted in 1919
whereas the Maritime
Timetable Images picture dates from 1928, confirmed by Hook.
Source (brochure) published in 1928 show company emblem with intials
and placed in upper hoist. Same emblem within a
“cartouche” (rope with Savoy knot, really) and naval(?)
crown on clickable photo is at <www.rickshaw.org>.
The above Trieste forum “AdlerTS” gives an impressive
timetable of Triestino names (quote):
“1836: Società di Navigazione a Vapore del Lloyd Austriaco
(Dampfschiffahrtgesellschaft des Oesterreichischen Lloyd)
-1872: Società di Navigazione a Vapore del Lloyd Austro-Ungarico
(Dampfschiffahrtgesellschaft des Oesterreichischen-Ungarischer
Lloyd)
- 1892: Società di Navigazione a Vapore del Lloyd Austriaco
- 1919: Società di Navigazione a Vapore del Lloyd Triestino
- 1925: Lloyd Triestino Società di Navigazione a Vapore
- 1931: Lloyd Triestino - Flotte Riunite
- 1937: Lloyd Triestino S.A. di Navigazione
- 1940: "Oriens" Linee Triestine per l'Oriente S.A.
- 1946: Lloyd Triestino S.A. di Navigazione
- 1950: Lloyd Triestino S.p.A. di Navigazione
- 1975: Lloyd Triestino di Navigazione S.p.A.”.
General history (in English) is at <www.italiamarittima.it>.
My guess is that 1919 sees the introduction of the blue flag as
shown by Flaggenbuch: crowned anchor in hoist and spearhead in
lower fly. In 1925 (till 1931? or 1937?) sees initials added to
anchor and entire emblem shifted to upper hoist.
See also: Italia di Navigazione Srl
image by Jarig Bakker, 10 December 2005
Lolli-Ghetti Carbonavi S.A., Palermo - blue flag, white italic
"LG".
Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of
the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995.
Jarig Bakker, 10 December 2005
