H/f Eimskipafelag Islands / Iceland Steamship Co. historical parent operation, preserving the Government caption for I45

The original flag was white with a blue cross described variously as a fylfot, swastika or Hammer of Thor. Brown’s early form is squat; later editions show elongated arms, suggesting a possible design change. Brown 1943 gives I45 a black funnel top. Jörg Karaschewski’s original table flag, obtained from Iceland in December 1991, has a thicker cross than the published I45 and I17 drawings. Talbot-Booth reverses the cross’s direction, which Rosanoski initially presumed erroneous.

E203 represents the thicker form. Karaschewski cited a card showing the company’s 1926 office building as evidence of the old emblem, though Rosanoski notes a left-handed version at the entrance. The museum’s flag, dated about 1951, prompted a reversed-or-upside-down explanation; the card and a 1930 poster subsequently disproved that theory. A Selfoss photograph shows a conventional 2:3 flag, and Bruarfoss confirms the funnel. Al Kirsch distinguishes the half-length arms as a fylfot.

The date at which the old flag disappeared is disputed. Company-linked accounts say it was no longer displayed after the Second World War, and the official history dates replacement of Thor’s hammer as the logo to 1989. Against the post-war claim, Guðjón Arngrímsson recalls the flag being flown while he sailed in the ships in 1963–69, and Ned Smith identifies a Selfoss photograph as no earlier than 1999. Mertens later thought that photograph had been changed. These recollections, photographs and statements are retained without imposing one cessation date.

The source supplies only a light-blue funnel; the corresponding flag is assumed.