The house flag of City Line Ltd (Ellerman Lines), Glasgow.

A rectangular red flag with the the white initials 'SS'. Ellerman's blue pennant with the white letters 'JRE' is hoisted above. The flag and pennant are made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. They have cotton hoists and are machine sewn. The letters on the items are printed. The pennant and flag are on a single rope with a toggle attached.

The City Line was founded in 1840 as George Smith and Sons in Glasgow, Scotland. The line’s first ship, the ‘Constellation’, was used in trade with Calcutta, India and shortly afterwards the ‘Oriental’ was purchased, followed by a string of ships that were built for the company. In 1848 the ‘City of Glasgow’ was launched, which also introduced the system of nomenclature for subsequent ships (all beginning with the word ‘City’) and the name of the line itself. Iron was introduced as a building material for ships in 1856, and the company adopted it for the construction of its vessels.

A service to Bombay was introduced in 1863, and in 1870 its first steamer went through the Suez Canal, en route to India. The company continued building sailing ships until 1882, when it began to focus solely on steamships. By the 1890’s, the company ran separate merchant and passenger services, and its routes operated from Glasgow and Liverpool to India, Australia and New Zealand. In 1901, the London, Liverpool and Ocean Shipping Line Ltd acquired 50 percent of the City Line and its name was changed to Ellerman City Line Ltd. Around this time, Ellerman also acquired many of City Line’s competitors, and all now joined together under the Ellerman flag. Older City Line ships were used for tourist services in the Mediterranean.

As with so many other shipping lines during World War I, the government took over the City Line’s ships for war purposes. Following the war, the company was able to restore its passenger and cargo services to Egypt, India, Ceylon, South Africa and the Far East. In 1939, the company owned 105 ships, making it one of the largest fleets in the world. During World War II, the City Line’s ships once again were requisitioned by the government, and the Ellerman Group lost a total of 60 ships by the end of the war. The company again built up its fleet following these losses, and by 1953 had a total of 94 ships in operation. The company appears to have stopped trading in the 1970’s and ceased to exist by 2002. The initials ‘J.R.E.’ shown on the top part of the flag refer to the initials of John Reeves Ellerman, founder of the Ellerman Group.