THOS. WILSON, SONS & CO. LTD.

The earlier flag appears as a white pennant with a red disc; Reed 1891 makes W204 long and narrow. Loughran contrasts a triangular form with the later tapered swallowtail.

Rosanoski considers Griffin 1883’s W409 probably erroneous, with W205 in Griffin 1891 apparently correcting it.

Reed 1901’s W281 has a small circle. Comparison with the National Maritime Museum flag leads Rosanoski to question whether the tapered versions are correct.

The burgee appears by the turn of the century. Lloyd’s 1904 shows a long swallowtail, while 1912 has only a tiny split; a proposed progression between these forms remains tentative. The line retained its livery in 1973 with the Ellerman pennant above, unlike other Ellerman constituent companies. The source correspondence suggests the superior pennant was not flown immediately at takeover.

The postcard shows two approximately 1:3 pennants on one line, their hoist tips touching: plain dark blue above and white with a red disc below. Rosanoski considers the blue pennant probably intended as Ellerman’s with omitted lettering and tentatively dates it around the 1916 takeover. The FOTW credit calls this E444 and the discussion also cross-refers to E417; the verified W444 association remains unchanged.