Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Showcase and Stories, Petroliana Gulf flag

I found this beautiful Gulf flag yesterday and just couldn't pass it up. I know almost nothing about flags but this one was in such beautiful shape that I knew it had to be worth snatching up. The lady that had it knew less than I did and said all she knew about it was that her husband had bought it at a swap meet somewhere. I did some research on it last night and think I may have figured out what it is/was. These flags were called House Flags and used on freighters and other cargo ships denoting the ownership of the ship. It was made in England (see pic of the tag)and from what I could find was made circa 1951. One place I found showed that this color scheme wasn't put in to use by Gulf until late 1950 but one said 1951 so I'm not sure on the date of origin.It is 36x60 and has the Gulf emblem sewn into the flag with two back to back pieces sewn to the single layer flag. The mast rope is sewn to the edge. The box it was in had been destroyed but from the condition it is in I'm sure it was still in the box and not subject to sunlight until just recently as the colors are vibrant and the material is clean and in super good shape. The white does show a little yellowing but not too bad if it is in fact over 60 years old. There was one small tear and a little soiled spot on one side but it is barely noticeable.

I am thinking about building a case to display it in to protect it from the elements. Anybody here a flag collector or know any tips on how to preserve and display them? I know enough not to simply hang it out in the open air as it is part wool fiber and I'm sure would soil with just dust in a short time.I would think putting under a uv protecting glass would be the route to go but I haven't had time to research how to do it yet. I thought it was a pretty cool find....Gary

IMO- logo is later than '51, nice piece..

I think you're right Randy. The one site that I found on these flags said that the logo went in to use in the 60's. Before that it was the older Gulf logo on a blue background like this. The other site was a museum collection site and it stated the circa 1951 as an estimated origin date.

...I saw those flags used at Gulf/Cumberland Farms stations in NE in the mid-to-late 1990's...

Yes these were usually seen about 6-8 at a time surrounding entrances at gulf and Cumberland farm stations. From the 90's into 2000

I am no expert on Gulf. Or anything else, to be honest...

But if I am not mistaken such "flags and banners" have been in use since approx 1970...

I believe there are a few shots of similar flags in one of my favorite Movies, from 1971...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iMcXWiS1AI

I knew some of you guys would know about the flag. I wonder if they all were made by the same company as this one? Seems kinda odd that they would have something like that made in England to use over here, especially something as disposable as a cloth flag. I found a few more pictures of them on the net that weren't made exactly like this one so they probably had several vendors for them. Also wonder if the marine house flags were they same as the ones they flew at service stations....I'm thinking that the marine flags would be made a little better than a banner flag but maybe not. Thanks for the movie link Bob, I just killed thirty minutes watching that thing and still never saw a flag!!LOL!!....GB

I just looked at my flag and it is nylon. Not stitched like yours appears now that I looked at it on my computer screen. Yours appears much higher quality but the vintage is definitely post 60's

The fact that mine is made the way it is with the stitched emblems and nylon/wool fabric makes me think it may be one of the marine flags. I'm sure that it is 60's or later after finding the information on the history of the house flags. The link I was looking at is:

http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us~hfgu.html

It gives the history of all the emblems and flags clear back to the beginning with J.M. Guffey Petroleum Co. when Gulf as we know it really started. It's an interesting read on all the "house flags" that were used on the ships. Maybe the maritime side of things explains why this flag was made by an old flag company from England as opposed to an American company. Just speculation on my part...GB

Texaco Marine flags were much larger than yours appears.

Just throwing that out there.

In looking through all the marine flags on the websites I noticed that there were several sizes. This one is 36x60 but the one I found on this website is 48x60. Not sure what that all means.....


http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/242.html