AMERICAN MAIL LINE LTD.

Funnel portrayals differ in the direction of the flagpole: Brown 1951 and 1958 point it aft, while Brown 1934 and Stewart 1957 and 1963 point it forwards, each shown diagonally. Talbot-Booth’s 1936–8, 1959 and 1963 editions use the A111 version; its 1942, 1944 and 1949 editions use A112.

The USA Houseflags website dates A111 to 1920–54. Collectable examples show different blues, and one appears black. The FOTW contribution cites National Geographic, US Navy and Stewart & Styring, but Rosanoski notes that the last shows a different flag.

An actual flag photographed on both sides suggests that the original blue differed from the illustrations. Its emblem has a yellow disc within a black-edged white annulet, inscribed “AMERICAN MAIL” above and “LINE” upright below. Over it is a white, black-edged diagonal pole, described as angled “PBd”, flying A111 towards the fly; the pole extends below the annulet. Stewart’s funnel emblem differs: the central disc is white, with the black-lettered white annulet and a flag of five horizontal bands on a diagonal pole extending below it.

The National Maritime Museum flag, dated about 1955 and measuring 914.4 by 1,534 mm, has a light-blue field. The small flag on its disc is described as blue, white, red, white and blue without a specified blue shade. Rosanoski thought that blue might be slightly lighter than the field, but not as much as in the FOTW A1093 portrayal.