Johnson Group (shipping company: Sweden)

The horizontal red/blue biband with the angled white 6 pointed star shown here is the flag originally of the U.K. company George Thompson & Co which was later used by the British & Commonwealth Line Ltd.

As far as I know it has never been used by anyone else and certainly not by Axel Axelson Johnson with their correct flag being described by Peter and correctly shown on Page 9 of this section as the first example in the name of Johnson Line.. The trading company originated as Rederi A/B "Nordstjeran" in 1890 and continued until 1983 when it became Johnson Line A/B and then in 1990 the passenger business was merged into Effjohn International O/Y A/B.
Neale Rosanoski, 6 January 2004

Johnson Line belonged to Nordstjernan, whose official site is at http://www.nordstjernan.se/. Nordstjernan also owned a part of Silja Line (it doesn't seem as if it still does).
Elias Granqvist, 4 April 2001

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This URL includes a flag exactly as that of Johnson Line, except that it is lighter. I wonder how different that is in normal houseflag practice (that is, if there's a difference at all).
Jorge Candeias, 5 April 2001

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Dates from 1890, originally known as Rederi A/B Nordstjernan, apparently owned by Axel Axelson Johnson, they merged their passenger vessels into Effjohn International O/Y A/B with a 40% holding. The rest of their ships appear to have been disposed of with the company not appearing to be directly involved in shipping anymore. All indications that I have found are that the houseflag was dark blue as has been originally shown and the light blue version shown on the current Nordstjernan site is presumably that of the current "non shipping" company or possibly just an artistic effect created by the site designer.
Neale Rosanoski, 5 August 2003

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I found that they were located in the building which belonged to the Johnson Group and was currently still used by NCC which is the descendent of Rederi A/B Norstjernan, the company which is now confirmed as being formed by group founder Axel Johnson. In the 1980s the group decided to concentrate on the construction business and sold of its shipping interests which included Silja Line and Linjebuss and in 1988 changed the Nordstjernan name to NCC. I previously commented that the indications I had were that the flag was a dark blue and the best example of this is the flag appearing on the Josef Nüsse site. However the photo of the building shows a flag etched on the side whilst a similar blue looking flag is being flown from the roof but is far too small to make out the detail. However the version attached to the building is in line with the website logo covered by Elias and Jorge. Determining the correct shade is probably only possible from an actual observation but it may mean there were two shades used for some reason. One point both the Nüsse and building flags seem to agree on though is that the proportions were 1:2.
Neale Rosanoski, 12 August 2006