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KLM (The Netherlands)

Royal Dutch Airlines, Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij

by Mark Sensen, 6 Jan 2003

Royal Dutch Airlines
Maatschappij voor Luchtvaart (Aviation Co.)

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Royal Dutch Airlines

I wonder if you could help me with some research. Do you know which flag was flown by KLM airlines (Holland) on their aircraft immediately prior to WW2? A photo of the aircraft can be found at this webpage. Not a good photo but I hope you can point me in the right direction. Looks like the normal Dutch flag but what is in the middle?
Howard Armitage, 4 Jan 2003

The flag of KLM (Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij, Royal Dutch Airlines) was not red-white-blue, but orange-white-blue, with the logo in black in the center of the white stripe. This logo consisted of the letters KLM in a hexagon, two wings and a crown, and was designed by architect Dirk Roosenburg in 1919, the year the KLM was founded. I have seen this flag on photos from the 1930s and from the years just after WWII.
In 1949/1950 a new logo was adopted (in which the old logo remains as a detail), which evolved with changes in 1959, 1962-'63 and 1971 to the one in use today. I have never seen flags with one of these logos.
Source (logos, not the flag): Drs. G.I. Smit, R.C.J. Wunderink, Mr. I Hoogland, "KLM in beeld; 75 vormgeving en promotie", 1994.
Mark Sensen, 6 Jan 2003

Maatschappij voor Luchtvaart (Aviation Co.)

image sent by Mark Sensen, 18 Sep 2006

A hazy beauty from the Boone Scripophily site – the flag image on one of the shares on auction is not very clear - there.
This is an 1911 issue of the short-lived ‘Maatschappij voor Luchtvaart’ featuring the company flag, yellowish with – as far as I can make out – blue horizontal edges, a blue saltire and perhaps some emblem in the centre. Curiously, according to Mr Boone, the flag was not merely shown on the share but on the coupons as well.
Check these pages for some background information: here and here.
The MvL (Aviation Co.), founded in 1910, was to promote flying but also to build planes in cooperation with foreign companies. It had to terminate business activities in 1912. The firm’s seat of operations, Soesterberg, was to become a well-known Dutch air base.
Jan Mertens, 7 Sep 2006

Here is a scan from "50 jaar luchtmacht" (edited by F.F. Habnit, The Hague, 1963) with a B/W-drawing of the flag. In the book also two photos with this flag flying, but too small to scan. Text: The aerodrome of Soesterberg of the Company Verwey & Lugard had its own flag, provided with bizarre aviation symbols.
I have a copy of a letter from mr. Habnit to Daan van Leeuwen from the NVvV (Dutch Flag Association) answering questions about this flag. However, I can't find it at the moment...
Mark Sensen, 18 Sep 2006