Water resistant material
 
Wing House Flag, c.1852
House flags flew at the masthead of whaling ships to identify the vessel's owner. The J. & W.R. Wing Co. debuted its house flag on the whaling ship Osceola in 1852, and, after only 70 years on the seas, was lowered for the last time. According to an article reporting J. & W.R. Wing Co.'s bankruptcy published on April 7, 1923; "The announcement means little to the present generation, but when the whaling industry was at its height the flag of the house Wing, a letter "W" on a field of white and a red ball on a field of blue was known on the seven seas.