Special thanks to Garry Minnis and Sue Korwin for their assistance with this design.
Some other Mercury history provided by Jordan Heath
The earlier "first" burgee was used definitively through 1955. 1956 and 1957 were transitional years for the company as it moved from Burbank, CA to Piru, CA and also phased in a full restyling of the line. Unless someone can prove otherwise with an original example, all the Mercury burgees were white. Both of my examples have red lettering although there is evidence from an original brochure that the later style could also have had dark blue lettering.
Not every Mercury model had a provision for mounting a bow pole, especially in the pre-1950 years.