Last modified: 2016-07-02 by peter hans van den muijzenberg
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House flag of the Red Star Line
Left, after Brown's Flags & Funnels (1926) - Image by Miles Li, 29 May 2016
Right, after a post card - Image by António Martins, 8 May 2010
See also:
The Red Star Line was formed in 1872 as the
Société Anonyme de Navigation
Belge-Américaine, the Belgian subsidiary of the American
company International Navigation Co., of
Philadelphia which itself was formed in
1871.
Known as the Red Star Line after the flag, the exact
history of the former company is somewhat obscure. Basically the
fleet was initially under the Belgian flag but subsequent it became
under the sway of the International Mercantile Marine Co. in
1902 with ships under United Kingdom and USA flags as well.
According to Reid Carson in The Atlantic Ferry in the Twentieth
Century the Belgian company disposed of its interests in 1902 but
as some ships remained under the Belgian flag this is possibly not
correct. The name may have been retained as a trading name only and
is noted as finally ceasing operations in December 1934 with the remaining
ships sold to Arnold Bernstein of Hamburg
who operated them as Bernstein (Red Star) Line until 1939 when
the ships and goodwill were taken over by
Nederlandsche-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij N.V.
Neal Rosanoski, 25 October 2003
Although its flag was virtually identical - a white burgee with a red star - the Red Star Packet Line was completely unrelated to the Belgian Red Star Line.
Joe Mc Millan, 17 November 2001
According to Brown's Flags & Funnels (1926)
[wed26], the house flag of Red
Star Line is a white swallow-tailed flag with a red star in the
middle.
Brown (1943) shows the flag under Red Star Line but
domiciles it Hamburg suggesting that the flag continued to be used by
Bernstein. There is some confusion over the correct shape of the flag
with a few sources showing it as a tapered swallowtail.
Neal Rosanoski, 25 October 2003
The flag is shown on a postcard [o9oXXb] (postcard No. 11 in the series, 1st row, 2nd flag) with converging top and bottom edges.
António Martins, 8 May 2010