Dutch Houseflags of Shipping Companies [o]

Last modified: 2022-01-08 by rob raeside
Keywords: oceaan | oranje nassau | osm |
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• Oceaan
• Olthof Scheepsservice
• van Oord, Venray
• Oost Atlantic Lijn
• Oosterwijk Bagger Mij
• Van Opstal
• Oranje Nassau
• Oudcomb BV
• K.N. Overmeer & Zn, Overmeer Transport Group
• Overzeese Scheepvaart Mij

• van Ommeren
• van Oord, Utrecht
• Oost Atlantic Lijn NV
• Oosse Maritiem
• Oostzee
• Oranje Lijn
• Oranje Verzekeringen
• Oudkerk BV

• The Netherlands
• The Netherlands - Index of all pages
• Houseflags of Dutch Shipping Companies
• Houseflags of Shipping Companies

Oceaan

N.V. Nederlandsche Stoomvaart Maatschappij "Oceaan", Amsterdam - blue with a white diamond charged with NSMO in black.
Source: houseflagchart attached to the magazine "De Blauwe Wimpel", April 1956.
Jarig Bakker, 22 Oct 2003

Formed 1891 by the British company Alfred Holt & Co. with sources up to WW2 showing the Holt flag being used and with this association and the Oceaan flag being of similar design I would imagine that the blue would be a dark shade. Sources agree with the version shown apart from Brown 1951 which shows blue letters with dots after them.
Neale Rosanoski, 7 Jan 2004

Olthof Scheepsservice

Last year I spotted Olthof’s house flag on this Vlootschouw page dedicated to the coaster ‘Normed Bremen’: You can see it flying on the bow, among many others: white, a mustard-coloured disk in the centre (the logo is second on the list of suppliers).  See company website: where the logo builds up (flash animation). As shown on the site, the disk (representing the initial ‘O’) bears a white cargo ship, sailing to the right, placed above the horizontal stem of a thin white initial ‘G’ following the rim of the disk.
Olthof Scheepsservice (i.e. ships’ service) was founded by G. Olthof in 1924 as a ship repair yard, motor dealer (representing the famous Brons brand, now gone,
and currently Mitsubishi).  In addition, the company constructs hydraulic steering devices.  The firm is established at Capelle on the River IJssel, immediately to the East of Rotterdam.
At the Dutch auction site Marktplaats the logo is there allright – in a position above centre flag -  but ‘G’ and ship are black rather than white. The complete company name is added below: ‘MACHINEFABRIEK (i.e. machinery factory, jm) G. OLTHOF N.V.’ also in black.
This was offer no. 173188421, put up 3 Jun 2008 by “Ghis” (Westdorpe, Zeeland). Made of nylon, dimensions given as 68 cm x 100 cm. The original photo is
larger, but as the disk is dark I cannot see if the reverse has the device turned around.  The company name, if present, ought to read correctly.
Jan Mertens, 6 Jul 2008

van Oord, Venray

Van Oord Handel en Transport (“Van Oord Trade and Transport”) BV is situated at Venray, a town in the Dutch province of Limburg, not far from the River Maas.  The company website shows the house flag on the first page and throws in a (simplified) animated gif for good measure.
A wedge or triangle containing the national colours has its base on the hoist and reaches the end of the flag, leaving two triangles the upper one of which is green and the lower one, yellow. Unfortunately, this striking combination is defaced by the company name in white letters: ‘Van Oord’ (large) at the top of the green triangle, ‘Handel en Transport b.v.’ (small) at the bottom of the yellow one.  The animated gif does not show the name.
See the ‘Handel en Transport’ section for a photo of the barge ‘En Avant’ (first photo, clickable): this particular flag does not seem to carry the full company name after all.
Van Oord sells, and delivers, various sorts of sand, gravel, chalk, recycled materials, etc. for the construction industry, mainly concrete works. Several inland vessels, some of them specialized, a pontoon, and a sand suction dredger are operated by the company.
A member of the Van Oord Doorwerth Holding, the firm cooperates with Eurocem which is a cement supplier.
Note: there does not seem to be any connection with its namesake(s) present on the FOTW-website.
Jan Mertens, 25 Apr 2006

Oost Atlantic Lijn

Oost Atlantic Lijn B.V., Rotterdam - horizontal red - white - green - red flag; over the two central stripes "OAL". (Eastern Atlantic Line).
Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels of Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995.
Jarig Bakker, 17 Nov 2005

Oosterwijk Bagger Mij

A leftover from Jansen & Van Herck’s book ‘Duwvaart’ (a Dutch book on push navigation and a nice house flag source) is Oosterwijk Bagger Mij. (i.e. Oosterwijk Dredging Co.) of Rotterdam.
P. 22 of this book shows a b/w drawing: horizontally divided BWBWB, the central stripe wider and containing an italic initial ‘O’.  I stumbled on a small colour photo of this flag, here, where it functions as a sort of signcall or signature!

The Boskalis history page (in Dutch) mentions Oosterwijk, founded by J.C. Oosterwijk who started out in 1920 as an independent transporter of sand.  Later cooperation with Boele as ‘Boele en Oosterwijk BV’: huge contracting works; taken over by Boskalis (and renamed Boskalis Oosterwijk) in 1969.
A more thorough overview is found on this Dutch Wikipedia page, where we learn that the name ‘Oosterwijk’ was struck in 1981.  I could not resist swiping the flag. See also this Binnenvaart page dedicated to vessel ‘Volkerak’ and the flag drawing.
Jan Mertens, 15 Dec 2008

Van Opstal

On Van Opstal, a Dutch inland shipping and transportation company at Tilburg (North Brabant province), I have found virtually nothing... but the house flag for which I have – again - to thank Marktplaats (Dutch auction site).  It was offered as no. 173161494 (accessed 3 Jun 2008) by “Ghis” from Westdorpe, Zeeland.  According to seller, made of nylon and measuring 95 [cm] x 140 [cm].
Horizontally divided RWR (1:2:1), greenish letters without serifs proclaiming the name – in one word!
Red and white may refer to Noord-Brabant.
Jan Mertens, 25 Aug 2009

Oranje Nassau

Scheepvaart Maatschappij Oranje Nassau, Rotterdam - blue flag. white diamond, yellow lion rampant; at hoist top and fly bottom yellow "ON".
Source: Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Jarig Bakker, 26 January 2005

Oudcomb BV

K.N. Overmeer & Zn

A striking flag in purple and yellow is flown by ‘K.N. Overmeer & Zn BV’ (K.N. Overmeer & Son Ltd), a freighting company located in Amsterdam and having offices in Rotterdam and Getmold on the Mittellandkanal, Northern Germany (‘Overmeer Schifffahrt & Transport GmbH’).

Flag found at  http://www.overmeer.com/Modem/TaalkeuzeModem.htm (changed since then, see below), and photos showing the flag flying on the Amsterdam office and a tugboat, respectively on this one: Yellow field with purple wedge or triangle based on the hoist and extending all the way to the fly; on the triangle ‘OVERMEER’ in yellow letters without serifs and the ‘O’ somewhat larger.

Some facts gleaned from the company website (admittedly the Dutch text is more informative than the versions in other languages).
Founded after WWII by J.L. Overmeer Sr, member of a family active in inland navigation, organizing shipments to France.  Officially the firm exists since 1961 at which time K.N. Overmeer took over his father’s business. Transport to and from Germany started about 1975.  Another generation appeared on the scene beginning of the 'eighties in the person of J.L.Overmeer Jr, the ‘Zn’ (son) mentioned above.

Overmeer expanded in the ‘nineties thanks to the abolition of freighting restrictions and also to an important enlargement of the area of operations (Main-Danube Canal, also Mittellandkanal).  In order to deal with increased business, two offices were established: one at Rotterdam, the other at Getmold in Germany (starting 1 March 2006).

The company owns barges but rents them as well and is assisted by private bargemen under contract.

Overmeer may not be a very large company but its house flag is not a run-of-the-mill affair, at least where the colours are concerned.
Jan Mertens, 3 Apr 2006

Overmeer Transport Group

‘K.N. Overmeer & Zn’, a Dutch inland shipping company, is now named ‘Overmeer Transport Group’.
The third link in this article is still active, contrary to the others.  More importantly, the house flag has been altered (I saw the previous one still in use, December 2008).  Company website (English version reduced to on-line loading queries): Additional facts: K.N. Overmeer’s father was active in freighting since 1948 before leaving his business to his son, 1961.  A further office has been established at Bray-sur-Seine, France: ‘Overmeer Transport Fluvial & Logistique Sas’.  Overmeer is now a fully multimodal firm.  With an eye to future trends Overmeer participates in two projects, ‘Research Small Barges’ (optimizing logistic processes, taking environmental factors into account) and ‘Q-Barge’ (small-sized barge able to navigate anywhere in Europe).
 
The photo caroussel shows the modified flag featuring the new logo seen on the site: Three disks, their colours evolving from purple (left) towards blue (right), partially shoved inside each other, a high yellow horizontal line traversing them and each disk(oid) containing two yellow vertical lines, the left one always somewhat higher than the right one, intersecting the horizontal line.
An article in the 3 Nov 2009 issue of "Binnenvaartkrant' states that the new logo represents the three transport modes (water, road, and rail) and their connection.  It was first presented on 16 Oct 2009 at a trade show at Copenhagen.
 
A more radical change is the flag's colour arrangement: previously a yellow field bearing a purple triangle having its apex on the fly, now the field is purple and bears a similar triangle, yellow. The unusual choice of colours remains.
Jan Mertens, 9 Nov 2009

Per 16 October 2009 hebben we changed our housestyle and therefore our houseflag.
Erik van Rossum, Manager Finance & Quality, Overmeer Transport Group, 8 Dec 2009

Overzeese Scheepvaart Mij

Overzeese Scheepvaart Maatschappij, Amsterdam (Overseas Shipping Society) - horizontal Orange - Blue - White - Blue - Orange; on white blue "OSM".
Source: Scott, R.M., The Caltex book of Flags and Funnels, Capetown, Caltex Africa Ltd. (1959).
Jarig Bakker, 10 Jan 2005