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B475’s flag, with red “SBNC”, appears in nineteenth-century references and was repeated in early twentieth-century books, but its actual use is uncertain after the loss of records. The funnel lasted until about 1938 or the Second World War, followed by wartime grey.

After the war the funnels were plain black until the 1946 adoption of B481 for the first motor ships.

Milo’s unconventional funnel, incorporated into the buff wheelhouse in 1952, created an unintended buff appearance, while subsequent ships continued with black funnels. Loughran presents buff versions as experimental. A brief late-1950s experiment used blue letters, abandoned when the shade became bright blue. Marinart gives B482, although its Apollo photograph appears black, corresponding to B481. ABC lists both as alternatives and writes “B.S.N.Co”.

B480 shows blue funnel letters.

B481 and B478 show black funnel letters. Loughran calls the marked area a panel, although some sources depict bands. James Dignan’s B481 flag uses black lettering read from Sampson’s monochrome hatchings.

Flag sources differ over black or blue lettering and “BSNC” versus “BSNCo.”, the latter with an enhanced “o” and dot beneath. Loughran attributes blue flag letters to misreading the funnel experiment. Rosanoski observes that blue letters already appear in Reed 1912, suggesting difficulty distinguishing dark blue from black; the “o” variation remains unexplained.