THE hunt is on for the missing parts of the original Eureka Flag.
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The Museum of Democracy at Eureka (M.A.D.E) is preparing a campaign calling on people to try to locate some of the pieces of the flag that have been lost over time.
It comes as another small piece of the flag was recently loaned to M.A.D.E from the Ballarat Historical Society through the Gold Museum.
The fragment of blue cloth was cut from the border of the original flag and originally belonged to William Bradford, who fought at the Eureka Stockade in 1854.
It was kept in a leather pouch for many years, along with a note written by William’s grandson, J. Bradford.
Sovereign Hill museums director Brett Dunlop said the piece had not been displayed before.
“It’s a good example of, rather than institutions keeping things and saying ‘it’s mine, it’s mine’, that we’re working with others to bring the collections together and tell a better story,” Mr Dunlop said.
Pieces of the flag were once torn and cut off from the main banner to be given to visiting dignitaries
M.A.D.E director Jane Smith said it was likely the various missing pieces of the flag had been spread far and wide from Ballarat.
“You look at the size of some of these (pieces), they’re pretty tiny. Unless there’s been some kind of relationship with the flag through family stories, you don’t know,” she said.
“It would be nice to find some new ones.”
The original 1854 flag, which has been loaned to M.A.D.E from the Art Gallery of Ballarat, is missing about a third of its original material.
Pieces of the flag were once torn and cut off from the main banner to be given to visiting dignitaries, before it was later restored in 1973.
tom.cowie@fairfaxmedia.com.au