The house flag of Canadian Pacific Steamships, London. A rectangular flag with six red and white checks. A white check is at the top left corner. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. It has a cotton hoist and is machine sewn. A rope and two Inglefield clips is attached. A section is missing at the fly edge and this end has been repaired by hand. The same design was used by Canadian Pacific from 1883 to 1968 and the Mersey Towing Co Ltd.

The Canadian Pacific Railway Company, originally formed to build a railway across Canada, became involved in ship owning in 1884 running a railhead supply service on the Great Lakes. In 1887 they started a route between Hong Kong and Vancouver with chartered ships, the intention being that this should link to rail services running across the North American continent; in 1889 the company signed a ten-year subsidized mail contract with the UK government. The trains were to run from Halifax to Vancouver and the sea route from Vancouver to Hong Kong via Shanghai. Between 1903 and 1971, Canadian Pacific took over and operated Elder-Dempster's Atlantic routes and their subsidiary, the Beaver Line (formerly the Canadian Steamship Company.) The ships were split off from the railway undertaking in 1915.

The new company, Canadian Pacific Steamships Ocean Services Ltd included the ships of the Allan Line, which were absorbed into Canadian Pacific during the following year. The passenger services suffered from competition from airlines after the Second World War and the company diversified into bulk carriers and tankers. A new corporate livery was introduced in 1968. The name of the firm became Canadian Pacific Ltd in 1971. It moved out of ship owning in 1989. From 2001 Canadian Pacific was reorganized into five companies. CP Ships Ltd still manages container shipping systems.