McMillan places Esso under the New Jersey Standard Oil account. Rosanoski thinks the oval-ring flag dates from the post-war group and found no source showing it under the Standard Oil name, though pre-war Hong Kong funnels bore the logo and might imply overseas flag use. The earlier flag was diagonally red and blue with a central white S. McMillan questions whether Talbot-Booth’s California attribution makes it a SoCal flag; Rosanoski instead identifies it as New Jersey’s from Brown 1929–43 and Loughran. A reported 1938 adoption might be readoption after use of the Standard Shipping flag from 1927; Rosanoski suggests resemblance to Stanvac could have prompted a return to the older design.
Keep the explicit scope label independent; no alias or company identity is inferred.