ATLANTIC TRANSPORT LINE.

The original blue flag is described by Bonsor as five rows of five white stars, used from 1882 to 1898. LJC and Griffin instead show 38 stars in staggered rows of five and six, as A108. Rosanoski relates that pattern to the contemporary U.S. canton and naval jack, but treats avoidance of resemblance as a possible explanation for replacement, not a proven motive. His earlier suggestion of a response to the 1905 trademark law is superseded by Bonsor’s 1898 change date.

Reed 1901 shows 45 stars: nine above eight on the red stripe and fourteen on each of the other two. Its white funnel base is probably a printing error. Rosanoski notes that the star total matches the U.S. flag of 1896–1908.

LJC 1909 retains 38 stars, with two rows of seven on the white stripe and two rows of six on each outer stripe.

Reed 1912 and National Geographic show 42 stars, two rows of seven on each stripe; the stars on the blue stripe are red. FOTW calls this the “Last Flag”. Flags and Funnels of the British and Commonwealth Merchant Fleets also gives 42 stars. Rosanoski cannot determine whether the differences reflect errors or deliberate changes.

Bonsor describes the second flag as red–white–blue with two rows of six stars on each stripe. Reid Corson shows the rows staggered, the upper nearer the hoist, as A418. The Lloyds and Brown versions from 1904 to 1934 likewise have 36 stars but make those on the bottom blue stripe red; Brown and Reedereiflaggen show twelve on each stripe in staggered rows of six.

Rosanoski criticises an earlier FOTW illustration for reversing Bonsor’s stripe order and showing only eighteen stars, one row of six per stripe. The accompanying description had blue–white–red rather than Bonsor’s red–white–blue. He notes that this image appears to have been replaced; the original criticism remains attached to the retained record.

A single US country for every image conflates the two legal entities and their common trading line. Neither vessel registration nor the owner's nationality alone settles each flag attribution.