Last modified: 2021-06-28 by rob raeside
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image by Miles Li, 6 July 2016
Cia. Napoletana di Nav., Naples - green flag, white diamond,
red "A".
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
image by Ivan Sache, 2 May 2005
Lloyds 1912 shows a green flag
with a bigger white diamond bearing the red letters
"C.N."
Neale Rosanoski, 26 February 2005
image by Eugene Ipavec, 7 February 2004
This Adriatic house flag page also shows ‘Navigazione Capodistriana’ (long
name ‘Società Cittadina di Navigazione a Vapore poi Navigazione Capodistria,
Capodistria poi Trieste’ or Municipal Steam Shipping Co. then Capodistria
Shipping Co. at Capodistria then Trieste), third of first row:
http://www.webalice.it/cherini/Naviglio/galleria.htm.
Capodistria
being present-day Koper, the Slovenian port in the immediate neighbourhood of
Trieste, Italy. It shows a red flag
bearing large white initials “NC” without
serifs.
The following pages, from the same website maintained by Aldo
and Corrado Cherini, presents this small but locally important firm (second url
leads to pencil drawings of ships):
http://www.webalice.it/cherini/NavigazioneCapodistriana.htm
http://www.webalice.it/cherini/navi/CapodistrianaSA/indexCapodistriana.html
Founded in 1881, owned by the municipality of Capodistria, NC became a
limited company after WWI, was taken over in 1935 by Istria
(SIT) at Trieste while retaining autonomy. For a long time ferrying to Trieste
was cheaper than the railroad or overland routes. In the article, the pleasant
on-board atmosphere is lovingly described.
Jan Mertens,
6 February 2011
image by Jarig Bakker, 12 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 Navigazione Generale Italiana, Geno(v)a:
quartered white and red, in the hoist white field a yellow lion
couchant and near its head a black sprig?? (very sketchy here I'm
afraid) and in the fly white field a red cross throughout.
Or rather a St George's cross, as will become clear. A very tiny
image here (even when enlarged), click the upper right poster:
<cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com>.
The firm existed 1881-1932 and came about as a merger between
Ignazio & Vincenzo Florio (a firm from Palermo) and the Società per la Navigazione a Vapore
Raffaele Rubattino from Genoa, that's where the St George's
cross comes I gather. More history on this splendid site
<www.theshipslist.com>:
"Besides services to the USA and Canada, they ran to
Mediterranean and Black Sea ports, India, the Far East and South
America. In 1885 they took over Soc.Italiana di Transporti
Marittimi Raggio & Co. and Soc. Rocco Piaggio & Figli. By
1901 NGI had taken control of La Veloce
and in 1924 liquidated that company. In 1910 they purchased a
controlling interest in Lloyd Italiano. The same year the Societa
Nationale del Servizi Marittimi was formed and NGI transferred
most of their ships to this company. This left them with only 19
ships and the North and South American routes. In 1921
Transoceanica Societa Italiana di Navigazione and Societa
Commerciale Italiana and their fleets were absorbed into NGI and
in 1932 NGI and Lloyd Sabaudo, with Cosulich Line combined to
form a new company named ITALIA."
Jan Mertens, 22 December 2003
Image after Loughran's Survey of Mercantile Houseflags and
Funnels, 1979.
Jarig Bakker, 12 July 2004
image by Jarig Bakker, 12 July 2004
This is not the old firm reffered above but a private
ferryboat around Sicily - This flag from <www.cormorano.net>:
Diagonally divided from top hoist to fly bottom, towards the
hoist black and towards the fly white; in the center a red map of
Sicily surcharged with a yellow Scandinavian cross (I guess to
honor the Vikings, who brought prosperity there in the early
Middle Ages).
Jarig Bakker, 12 July 2004
Those early lords of Sicily were Normans rather than Vikings.
Most of them left the duchy of Normandy when William the Bastard
(later the Conqueror) strngthened his power and forbid the
autonomous domains in his duchy. The rebels were forced to exile.
The most famous of these rebels is Robert Guiscard (c.
1015-1085), who founded a Norman state in Southern Italy. Robert
was appointed count (1057-1059), then duke (1059-1085) of Puglia,
Calabria and Sicily, by pope Nicholas II. He expelled the
Byzantines from Italy in 1071 and later the Sarracens from
Sicily. Other Norman lords became mercenaries in England, Spain
and Byzance. They sent back money to Normandy to fund or rebuild
churches, for instance the cathedrals of Coutances and Sées.
Some of them eventually calmed down and came back home, where
their wealth and military experience was very helpful to William.
Ivan Sache, 13 July 2004
The 2nd flag for the current ferry company of that name may
have different colours as after studying the website images I
would plump for a dark blue instead of black division of the
field and for the cross on the map of Sicily to be white and not
yellow.
Neale Rosanoski, 1 December 2004
image by Jarig Bakker, 20 February 2006
Navigazione Libera del Golfo S.r.L. (vessels operating from
Naples), Naples - blue flag bordered yellow, white
"LN".
Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of
the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995.
Jarig Bakker, 20 February 2006
Yellow variant
image by Jarig Bakker, 13 July 2004
White variant
image by Jarig Bakker, 13 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 Navigazione Libera Triestina, Trieste:
blue, white serif-less letters NLT in the middle, a white foul
anchor in the background (behind the 'L' in fact). Also
known as the Libera Line.
Some company history here <www.theshipslist.com>:
"The company was registered in 1906 at Trieste, then part of
Austria-Hungary and operated cargo services world wide. In 1918
Trieste became a part of Italy and the fleet transferred to the
Italian flag. From 1921 passenger services to New York were
instituted and in 1927 a Genoa - Naples - Gulf of Mexico service
started. In 1937 the fleet was split between Italia and Lloyd
Triestino and disappeared as a seperate concern."
From Maritime Timetable Images, this picture <www.timetableimages.com>
showing the anchor's flukes 'sustaining' all three initials,
whereas Sandy Hook draws them solely under the 'L'.
I thought I was done with this when a different rendering
appeared on the scene: <www.infofila.cz>,
showing yellow anchor and intitials, and on a
company post card, too! So the colour question remains open, but
I'm sure someone has a flags
& funnels book to back one or the other version up.
Jan Mertens, 20 December 2003
Navigazione Libera Triestina S.A. - The flag books show both
white and yellow colours. Lloyds 1912, Brown 1926 and 1929 all
show white but with no
chain on the anchor [see it~n289a.gif attached]. Larousse is the
first to show a chain, supported by the timetable from <www.timetableimages.com>
whereas the postcard from <www.infofila.cz>
with the yellow version, going by the timetable with it, appears
likely to be dated around 1933 also and this version is shown by
Talbot-Booth from 1936 [which is in line] onwards and is also
picked up by the Brown 1934 and 1943 editions.
Neale Rosanoski, 1 December 2004
image by Miles Li, 21 May 2016
Based on images at www.navmont.com and
www.navmont.com/evolband.gif.
Dov Gutterman, 23 July 2002
image by Eugene Ipavec, 1 March 2011
Presented on this page represents a Venice based shipping company ‘Società di
Navigazione San Marco’:
http://www.webalice.it/cherini/Naviglio/galleria.htm.
Red field,
within a thin yellow orle the Venetian lion – with book – facing the hoist.
Founded in 1926 by Società Veneziana di Navigazione a Vapore and Lloyd
Triestino, “San Marco” aka ‘San Marco Line’ operated ships linking Venice with
nearby Dalmatian ports now located in Croatia such as Pula (Pola), Opatija (Abbazia),
and Fiume (Rijeka):
http://www.timetableimages.com/maritime/images/sml.htm. The depression
forced the company to sell its ships and close down in 1937.
Jan Mertens,
9 February 2011
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 9 June 2008
At the 1940 Spanish source at <www.24flotilla.com>
(Sixth and last on the third complete row): Navigazione
Toscana’ at Livorno (Leghorn). A simple flag, it is white and bears
black initials ‘NT’ without serifs.
Text (at <www.naviearmatori.net>,
no longer available, it seems) contained the following
information: Founded in 1914 by shipyard owner Giuseppe Orlando
in order to provide a subsidized maritime service to and from the
Tuscan Archipelago for twelve years. Ships linked
Livorno and/or Piombino to Elba (Portolongone – now renamed
Porte Azzuro - and Porteferraio) and other islands such as
Capraia, Pianosa, Giglio, etc. Most routes were operated on a
weekly or biweekly basis. After WWI – one vessel served
as a convoy ship - the concession was renewed and modern ships
put into service. WWII wiped out the commandeered company fleet
so old ships had to replace them in order to maintain the
islands’ lifeline. Concession renewed, 1963-1973. The
company seat of which was first moved to Rome (1969) and then to
Naples, was wound up in 1983.
According to the SimplonPC website the firm was renamed Toremar in 1975.
Pages showing a number of NT ships at <www.elba-online.com>
and <www.mucchio-selvaggio.it>.
Further sources (postal history and book, respectively) at
<www.filateliaefrancobolli.it>
and <www.calosci.com>.
Jan Mertens, 21 March 2008
image by Eugene Ipavec, 17 January 2008
Among the Italian shipping companies in the 1940 house flag
source at <www.24flotilla.com>
is that of ‘Nova Genuensis’, Genoa (first of fourth
row, counting the upper right one) - The house flag is divided
quarterly, upper left being white with a blue border, a red cross
throughout over all; upper right, white; lower left, white; lower
right, red with a blue cross throughout.
It is easy to spot the Genoan connection with the white-and-red town flag, whereas blue
(“azzurro”) may have been added for patriotic reasons
and/or contrast.
The full name of this firm was ‘Società Anonima per
l'Industria ed il Commercio Marittimo Nova Genuensis’ i.e.
‘Industrial and Maritime Commercial Co. Nova Genuensis
Ltd’ the short name being Latin for “New Genoa”.
No dates are known to me yet, what I found on the net were mostly
WWII encounters - sinkings or seizings of Nova Genuensis ships.
Jan Mertens, 11 January 2008
