Unknown, Australia - The Eureka flag
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Unknown - Australia
The Eureka flag 1854
Wool, cotton
260 x 324 cm (irregular)
Gift of the King family, 2001
The most complete summary of the history and legends associated with the ‘Eureka flag’ can be found in the catalogue of the Eureka Revisited Exhibition which was held in 2004 to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Eureka Stockade. How it came into the custodianship of the Art Gallery of Ballarat can be summarized as follows:
Following correspondence from James Powell, Secretary of the Art Gallery of Ballarat in 1895 to Mrs J King “for the very interesting relic as a gift… or failing your family’s willingness to part with it altogether, to lend it for a specified term..” Mrs King, the widow of Trooper J King, agreed to lend the flag to the Gallery on the condition that either she or her son Arthur could get it at any time.
The flag was duly posted to the Gallery but many continued to believe it was a replica or ‘bunting’ until the flag itself was compared with a significant fragment that had with certainty been cut off on the 3rd December 1854 – the day the rebellion was suppressed. Comparison of the fibres of the fragment and matrix put the authenticity of the flag in the Gallery beyond doubt as they were found to be identical. As was common practice for interesting ‘relics’ of this kind before museums properly understood their role as preservers of heritage items, mementoes continued to be taken from the flag in the early part of the 20th Century. The Eureka Flag was conserved and placed on display in the 1970s before being formally gifted by the King family in 2002.