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British Railway Company Flags

See also:

Midland Railway Co.

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 19 February 2007

Post card collection shows a white swallowtail flag with the crest of the company coat of arms on it (http://www.midlandrailwaystudycentre.org.uk/MirrorCrest.gif). This is a green wyvern with red and white striped belly and red spinal horns and wings.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 10 January 2008

See also:

Midland Railway Co. (as shipping line)

London & North Eastern Railway

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 21 February 2007

Post card collection shows a blue flag with a white saltire charged over all with a white red-edged lenticular shape charged with red sans-serif capitals spelling "LNER", the two middle letters being larger.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 21 February 2007

The saltire would seem to be a reference to the fact that the LNER operated the East Coast Main Line link between London and Edinburgh, including the famous Flying Scotsman service. The LNER was formed in 1923 as a result of the 1921 Railways Act grouping the railways. It served the east of Scotland and England north of London, and existed until nationalisation in 1948.
Jonathan Dixon, 21 February 2007

1923-33 flags were also in this pattern but the LNER logo is shown in the post card collection in a pillbox shape (the outline of two discs connected by parallel tangents). Additionally these three flags had a specific symbol on the hoist side triangle area of the background. None of these is shown on the LNER coat of arms:
http://www.crphillips-models.co.uk

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 8 August 2007

London & North Eastern Rly. (1923-33 for former Gr. Central Rly. Ships). As described, with white red fimbriated upright five-pointed star.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 8 August 2007

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 8 August 2007

London & North Eastern Rly. (1923-33 for former Gr. Eastern Rly. Ships). As described, with red wing crest on torse. This seems to be the London city crest, but the wing is depicted as plain red, not patterned after a St. George Cross.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 8 August 2007

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 9 August 2007

London & North Eastern Rly. (1923-33 for former North British Rly. Steamers. As described, with white ogival shield charged with a thistle proper (the image is too small to be sure, though).
António Martins-Tuválkin, 9 August 2007

The common house flag with an identifying emblem in the hoist was introduced 17 February 1932 as an economy measure. The original house flags, introduced 24 April 1923 were:
Harwich. St Andrew's flag with a red dragon's left wing on a central white circle.
Grimsby. A white star on a red pennant.
Scottish Services. Thistle on a white shield on a red pennant.
[National Archives (PRO) RAIL 390/305]
David Prothero, 7 January 2009

North British Railway

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 6 May 2010

From a postcard collection: 10.3.1: North British Railway
Postcard #10, 3rd row, 1st flag of the collection reads "North British Railway" and shows a red pennant with a black thistle on a white, black edged, ogival shield.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 6 May 2010

The first meeting of the promoters of a scheme to build a 57 mile railway linking Edinburgh with Berwick took place on 8th January 1842. Two years later, having secured the necessary finance, the North British Railway Company was incorporated and, on 4th July 1844, obtained an Act of Parliament authorising the construction of the line. Work began soon afterwards and the line was opened on 18th June 1846. The NBR was physically linked to the York, Newcastle & Berwick Railway on 29th August 1850, when the Royal Border Bridge at Berwick was opened. The NBR then became the Scottish part of the continuous east coast railway route from London to Edinburgh.
Headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital city, the Company expanded rapidly after the 1846 opening and, following a series of amalgamations and take-overs, it became the largest of the Scottish railways by the mid-1860s. By that time, it had opened a number of branch lines, built a new main line from Edinburgh to Carlisle, taken over the Edinburgh, Perth & Dundee and Edinburgh & Glasgow railway Companies, and absorbed numerous smaller railway operations. In the 1880s, it built the current Tay Bridge and the massive Forth Bridge (in a joint venture with its partner railway companies) and, by the end of the 19th century, it had built the West Highland Railway from Glasgow to Fort William. In fact, by the beginning of the 20th century, the Company’s rail services stretched from Newcastle to Aberdeen on the east and from Silloth in Cumbria to Fort William and Mallaig in the west. At the Grouping of UK railways in 1923, the NBR became a major constituent of the London & North Eastern Railway which, in turn, became part of the nationalised British Railways in 1948. In the 1960s many of the smaller ex-NBR branch lines were closed, together with the main line between Edinburgh and Carlisle (the Waverley Route). Britain’s railways were returned to the private sector in 1994, and today’s ex-NBR passenger railway system in Scotland is operated by First ScotRail, together with other Companies providing cross-border passenger and freight services.

North British Railway Study Group
http://www.nbrstudygroup.co.uk/page6.html
Ivan Sache, 3 May 2021

See also:

North British Railway Co.

South Eastern Railway

image by Eugene Ipavec, 18 August 2009

A British railway firm operating ships was the South Eastern Railway Co. founded in 1844. As described by The Ships List:

“In 1854 the South Eastern Railway Company took over the fleet of the South Eastern & Continental SP Company and ran Folkestone / Dover-Boulogne / Ostend services. In 1899 the company merged its fleet with the London, Chatham & Dover Railway to form the South Eastern & Chatham Railway Company joint fleet. (...) They ran services between Folkestone / Dover - Calais / Boulogne. In 1923 they became part of Southern Railway.”

Griffin’s ‘Flags National and Mercantile’ (1891), from the third edition of Griffin (1885), shows the house flag under no. 515: ‘S. Eastern Railway Co. London’. It is a dark blue field, white initials “S.E.R” (two dots only; no serifs). The ‘Scran’ site shows a modern rendition with three dots: http://www.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-000-550-930-C. Additional information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Eastern_Railway_(UK) and http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/SR_SECR1.html.
Jan Mertens, 17 August 2009

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 10 May 2010

Variant flag shown on a postcard collection: 11.2.14 South Eastern Railway.
Postcard #11, 2nd row, 4th flag of the collection reads "South Eastern Railway", early funnels black, and shows a dark blue flag with "SER" centered on it, set in white bold san-serif capitals [without periods].
António Martins-Tuválkin, 10 May 2010

image by Neale Rosanoski, 4 December 2010

According to Lloyds (1912) and the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce 1885 sheet the letters, without dots, were in the base of the flag and above them was a vertical white anchor. The version without the anchor is shown by Griffin (1883) [no edition number given] which shows dots after each letter in line with the Scran site and also it is so described in Merchant Fleets No. 24 where the author states that the flag was "blue with the white letters S.E.R." although it is then displayed on the on the back cover without dots in line with the image by António.
Neale Rosanoski, 4 December 2010

South Eastern and Chatham Railway

image by Eugene Ipavec, 19 August 2009

The on-line 1912 Lloyds Flags & Funnels shows the house flag as no. 1793 on original page 122 - Divided per ascending diagonal, blue (hoist) and red (fly), white company initials “S.E.C.R.” over all; these letters are rather thin and have no serifs. The complete caption found in this 1912 source: ‘South Eastern & Chatham Railway, Royal Mail Service, London’.
Jan Mertens, 18 August 2009

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 13 May 2010

Variant flag shown on a postcard collection: 12.1.1 South Eastern and Chatham Railway.
Postcard #11, 1st row, 1st flag of the collection reads "South Eastern and Chatham Railway", and shows a ~2:3 diagonally divided flag, blue on the upper hoist and red on the lower fly reading "SE&CR" in one centered line overall set in white bold sans serif capitals. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Eastern_and_Chatham_Railway & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Eastern_and_Chatham_Railway#Ships about the company and its ships (I have no idea if the flag was used also ashore).
António Martins-Tuválkin, 13 May 2010

Southern Railway

image by Eugene Ipavec, 17 August 2009

From http://www.plimsoll.org/OnTheLine/ShippingLines/southernrailwaycompany/default.asp#2:

The London & South Western Railway, active since 1840, starts shipping in 1843 as the 'New South Western Steam Navigation Company'. Other railway firms start cross-Channel and coastal shipping lines; various mergers occur. Finally, in 1923, "the London & South Western, London Brighton & South Coast and South Eastern & Chatham Railway Companies merge to form the Southern Railway. The new company operates trains and ships across the south east of England". When after WWII the British Transport Commission assumes control of the railways, the shipping activities follow (1948). The situation does not change on the formation of British Rail, however its shipping activities come to an end when Stena and Sealink UK acquire them (1979).
The Southern Railway house flag was blue with a red cross throughout, fimbriated white, and white letters 'S' (upper hoist) and 'R' (lower fly).
Jan Mertens, 15 April 2005

An image of a Southern Railway flag is seen at http://www.bluebell-railway-museum.co.uk/images/a007.JPG.
Jan Mertens, 16 August 2009

A postcard collection: 12.1.2 Southern Railway.
Postcard #11, 1st row, 2nd flag of the collection reads "Southern Railway", and shows essentially the same flag as above, but in the brighter shades of both red and dark blue of this source; the red cross is thicker and its white fimbriation thinner, as well as the letters.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 13 May 2010