DEUTSCHE DAMPFSCHIFFAHRTS-GESSELSCHAFT "HANSA".

The original flag symbolised the Hanseatic spirit in the old German Empire’s colours: red with a very broad white horizontal band carrying a brown castle, and a small white canton as deep as the upper red band, containing a black Iron Cross. It was used until 1883.

The later flag is a red-white-red triband with a wider centre bearing a black cross formy, clear of the edges, described as the Hanseatic cross. The National Maritime Museum specimen, dated about 1955–67, places the cross slightly towards the hoist. Rosanoski considers ordinary red appropriate, with no source specifying the pink of the earlier FOTW illustration.

The cross shape varies across sources; a black-and-white photograph of Reichenfels confirms a thin Iron Cross form. Stewart’s H6 has narrower red bands, closer to D479. Reed’s omission of Hansa from the D479 name is considered probably an error.