RICKMERS REEDEREI GMBH & CIE. K.G.

The house flag is a horizontal dark green, red and white tricolour, with a large white R across the green and red bands. The company explains the founder’s choice as inspired by his native Heligoland. A painting of R.C. Rickmers, dated about 1870, shows the flag. The National Maritime Museum example is dated 1955–67; its description calls the upper stripe black, which Rosanoski identifies as an error, noting its own reference to Lloyds 1912’s green. Other sources vary the R’s size and position: Lloyd Reedereiflaggen extends it slightly across all bands, Brown 1943 confines it to red, and Loughran outlines it black.

The general-cargo funnel carries the house flag. Photographs of Rickmers Antwerp, Rickmers Doha and Rickmers Seoul show variations in its angle and flutter. On the starboard side the flag still faces forward but the R is reversed, as on the back of a single-sided flag. Doha’s 2007 flag and pole are upright; other observations show varying inclinations. Brown 1958 omits the pole despite showing a fluttering flag. Elsewhere the pole is black or black-outlined; Rehm’s flag is almost straight. LJC makes the green band appear black and omits the visible R; Brown 1943 renders green as dark grey.

The R34 flag is documented by Brown 1995 and a Josef Nüsse table flag.

The container-ship funnel is confirmed by photographs of Robert Rickmers and Marine Rickmers. Unlike R15, its starboard view appears the same as the port side.

An agent’s website shows R205 for Rickmers. It was not confirmed on the company’s own site, but the material also shows readoption of the original flag.

Rosanoski presumes this funnel to be incorrect; the qualification is retained with the existing illustration.