Nuffield Organization, United Kingdom

Last modified: 2024-10-12 by rob raeside
Keywords: nuffield organization |
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• Brand flags
• Variations

See also:

• United Kingdom

Brand flags

This 1951 British poster / fullpage advertisement shows brand flags https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nuffield_Organization_advertisement_1951_286106681.jpg - or does it? Nuffield Organization (with a zed!), under that or similar names, existed roughly from 1949 to 1968 and "was the unincorporated umbrella-name or promotional name used for the charitable and commercial interests of owner and donor, William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield",
says https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuffield_Organization.

The poster itself shows six almost identical flags, arrayed in two columns of three each, all shown stiffly waving but with the same exact effect, all hoisted on slightly slanted poles pointing to their common upper hoist direction, the poles being featurelessly white (the ones at the two upper flag rows hidden behind the foreground flag cloths below) and incongruously fitted with a golden spear (?) finial and goldweave cord and tassle (only one tassle per flag).

These six flags share a common design, all showing a hoist side black panel with a large narrow bold seriffed "N", each with a varying solid color for the letter and the main panel, which has at its center varied content, mainly brand logos; these logos were not altered to match the smooth waving of the surface they are depicted on, being rather pasted on the area. The overall specs are ~2:3 ratio, with the width of the black stripe at the hoist being approx. 4/9th of the flag’s height.

The basic flag is a white background and "N", with six variants each showing lines of text set in narrow sans serif capitals listing all (?) brands/companies held under the Nuffield umbrella, including the five shown on the other flags: "Morris · Wolseley · MG ¶ and Riley cars ¶ Morris Commercial Vehicles ¶ Nuffield Universal Tractors ¶ S.U. Carburetors ¶ Morris Marine Engines".
This could be therefore seen as a generic/general flag of the Nuffield Organization.

Although the overall design is fetching, I don’t think that this ad is proof for the actual existence of these flags, nor even as the imagined flags of these companies: I think that, given the slogan atop  "The World’s leaders in transportation", these flags are merely used as tokens of universality and diversity, attempting, through its varying colors but unified design, to convey the notion that the Nuffield brands / companies have a specific solution for anyone’s needs.

António Martins-Tuválkin, 18 September 2024

Variations

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 18 September 2024

Orange background and "N", large lettering reading the famous brand name "Morris" in bold white slab-serif capitals, with a thin black drop shadow lit from the upper hoist.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 18 September 2024

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 18 September 2024

Yellow background and "N", with the well-known MG logo (initials on octogon) in black, at a fairly small size and no effects. See also MG Rover Group.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 18 September 2024

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 18 September 2024

Light blue background and "N", large lettering reading "Wolseley" in bold yellow capitals, matching its usual grille lettering https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wolseley_illuminating_radiator_badge.jpg with a thin black drop shadow lit from the upper hoist. More info at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolseley_Motors; this brand existed from 1901 to 1975: it’s unlikely that it had an actual flag.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 18 September 2024

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 18 September 2024

Purplish blue background and "N", with the Riley logo on it. This consists of a black rhombus (horizontally oblong nonrectangular quadrangle), thinly orled outside in white, with white cursive lettering - its details slightly different and arguable better drawn than usual: cf. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Riley_logos and esp. http://seatco.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Riley-logo-660x417.gif.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 18 September 2024

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 18 September 2024

Slightly purplish red background and "N", with lettering "Morris-Commercial" in hyphenated bold sans serif arched white all-caps style. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Commercial_Cars. 
António Martins-Tuválkin, 18 September 2024