GRINNELL, MINTURN & CO.

The Liverpool line’s distinctive blue-and-white swallowtail had a colour division following the shape of its cut fly. Rosanoski regards G161 and G251 as competing versions; Loughran associates G251 with the service beginning with Robert Fulton in 1822, while South Street instead assigns G248 to Liverpool.

G162 is associated with the London Red Swallowtail service of 1823–80; Loughran makes its red area slightly larger. South Street gives G249 for the London line.

The California service combined the earlier colours into a blue, red and white swallowtail. Sources differ in version: G160 is assigned by the houseflag chart, G163 by Loughran and G250 by South Street. The Clipper Ships describes Flying Cloud’s maiden-voyage flag on 2 June 1851 as white-red-blue and illustrates it in a painting. A black-and-white Flying Cloud lithograph may show South Street’s version, but Rosanoski leaves that reading tentative.

This flag is assigned to the China service.