The house flag of The Cunard Steamship Co. Ltd, Liverpool. A red rectangular flag with a printed crest of a gold crowned lion, rampant, holding a globe between its fore-paws in the centre. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. It has a cotton hoist and is machine sewn. A rope is attached. The centre panel of the flag is slightly faded.

Abraham Cunard, an American loyalist of German extraction, moved north to Canada after the War of Independence. His son Samuel became one of the leading businessmen in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was awarded the Admiralty contract to carry mail by steam ship across the North Atlantic and to carry out the agreement founded the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. The mail service was inaugurated by 'Britannia' in 1840. In the 1850s the company extended its services to take on a Liverpool-Mediterranean route. In the early 1870s Cunard's supremacy in the North Atlantic was challenged by the White Star Line; this revitalized the company's performance and it embarked on a programme of new building.

The North Atlantic Companies were hard hit by the 1930s recession and in 1934 Cunard took over White Star to form the Cunard White Star Line. Competition from air travel led to passenger retrenchment from the 1960s. The 'Queen Mary' and 'Queen Elizabeth' were sold but the company launched a new liner, the 'Queen Elizabeth 2' in 1969. In the 1970s the company diversified into cargo carrying. It is at present part of the American Carnival Corporation, with a fleet of three ships, cruising worldwide, including on its traditional transatlantic route.