Restoring The Birdwood Flag: From Fragments to the Community
Special Collections
The Birdwood Flag After Conservation, 2017
Restoring The Birdwood Flag: From Fragments to the Community
By Dr Amir Moghadam, Special Collections & Archives, University of Newcastle
Remembering is not just an activity concerned with the past, but also with the present and future. Questions of how we imagine the future have gained particular urgency in recent times as democracies are in danger and societies are in transition.
Many societies try to hold on to their past success stories as a resource for the future, even as a medium of hope. In this context, cultural heritage plays a significant role by materialising the past in which society has done something good.
The Birdwood Flag is a relic that narrates a significant story. The flag served as an emblem for Australian troops during the First World War, returned home to Newcastle, then almost vanished into silence before being restored to narrate such a wonderful story.
The Birdwood Flag before Conservation, 2013
The Flag’s Story
Miss Dora Sparke, President of the Newcastle Branch of the Victoria League. The League helped provide comforts for soldiers during World War I. It was a key body contributing to the making of the Birdwood Flag. [This image has been colourised with the help of AI]. Original Photograph: https://uoncc.wordpress.com/2016/06/22/birdwood-launch/
The story of the Birdwood Flag began more than a hundred years ago, when a group of women from the Hunter region, led by Dora Sparke, came together to create the first Australian flag. They gathered the necessary resources, made the flag, ensured it was officially sanctioned, and presented it at General Birdwood’s headquarters on the Western Front in September 1917. The flag, also called the Birdwood Flag, served as the Australian soldiers’ flag until the end of the war.
Field Marshal Lord William Birdwood (1865–1951), commander of the Australian Corps AIF, I ANZAC Corps, II ANZAC Corps in the Gallipoli Campaign 1915, and the Western Front 1916-1918.
For a detailed story of the Birdwood flag’s rediscovery please see the Cultural Collections post published on Friday, 9 May, 2014:
By the early 2010s, all that was left was a fragmented object, broken into several fragile pieces and kept in poor conditions, with no clear way to restore it.
This is where the conservation story became not just technical, but also deeply human. We made an important decision: to restore the flag because we wanted to bring its story back to life. This decision was unusual, since restoring an object usually requires not just significance, but also enough physical integrity. A collection of fragile fragments did not seem to justify a major conservation effort. Still, this marked the start of a three-and-a-half-year project that brought together the Cathedral, the University of Newcastle, launched a series of funding applications, and involved International Conservation Services and the Copland Foundation.
Since its rediscovery, it was not until 22 April 2016 that the Birdwood Flag Restoration Project was publicly launched at Christ Church Cathedral. It was a collaboration involving the Cathedral, the University of Newcastle, and International Conservation Services, with the work aiming to “put the pieces of the flag back together again and tell the story of the community” that created it. By July 2017, the restored flag returned to the Cathedral and was re-hallowed in a special service.
Besides working with institutions, the Birdwood Flag’s restoration depended on the people who made it possible. In this project, my role was connecting the technical side of conservation with planning, interpretation, stewardship, and public history. In a project shaped by fragility and loss, I helped keep everything together, treating it as both a preservation effort and a storytelling responsibility. I made sure the flag would be understood and restored not just as an isolated item but as a meaningful reminder of Newcastle’s community story.
The Birdwood Flag in its original condition. [Courtesy of The University of Newcastle’s Anglican Diocese Archives in Cultural Collections A6137(iv)] Photograph of the Birdwood Flag
I used the method and philosophy of anastylosis in planning for the restoration of the flag and its story. Throughout the project, I participated in a decision about what could be restored and what should remain as ‘loss.’ I also supported documentation and interpretation, making sure we focused on what makes the Birdwood Flag unique. For me, restoring the flag was never just about improving its appearance. It was about helping the community rediscover it and see their own story reflected in it.
Anastylosis (from the Ancient Greek ana = “again”, and stalóō = “to erect ) is a conservation term for a reconstruction technique.
It might be easy to describe the rediscovery and restoration as a simple, straightforward process, but it was actually a complex team effort. My role was to make a strong case that the flag is a living part of public memory, arguing for its restoration as a piece of the community’s collective memory. Everything had to be set up and discussed from the beginning, and as a conservator, I first had to develop a preservation strategy that could test what was possible, protect the flag’s authenticity, and provide a foundation for discussions with stakeholders and future grant applications.
In 2018, he project received the National Trust’s award for the best project in the category of Conservation Interiors and Objects. Today, the restored Birdwood Flag stands as more than a recovered artefact. It is a reminder that heritage work is, at its core, an act of care. It reflects the persistence and dedication of those who refused to let an important part of community history be lost. It also shows how conservation can help reconnect people with place, memory and identity.
National Trust’s Award, 2018
The 2018 National Trust’s award for the best project in the category of Conservation Interiors and Objects
Concluding Remarks
The restoration of the Birdwood Flag reminds us that heritage is never only about the past and preserving what remains of it, but about rediscovering and restoring the stories, values and connections that communities carry into the future. Its survival was made possible through care, collaboration and the shared belief that even the most fragile objects can still hold profound meaning. In bringing the Birdwood Flag back into public memory, this project did more than conserve a historic artefact; it reaffirmed the importance of collective will, community identity and the enduring power of heritage to connect past, present and future.
Special Thanks
2016:-From left: Major Roland Millbank, Birdwood Committee; Dr.Rosemary Barnard, Birdwood Comittee; Dr. Amir Mogadam, Conservator, UON; Mr. Gionni Di Gravio, Archivist, UON; Dr. Patricia Gillard, Birdwood Committee; Mr. Julian Bickersteth, Managing Director, ICS.
Many people in different stages helped the project progress. The Birdwood Flag’s restoration story narrates the fuzzy, complicated and demanding work of a group of people, marked by persistence and dedication. It is a testimony to the fact that heritage survives because people choose to do the work of care. In this work, many people contributed, so here is my special thanks to the great work of Dr Patricia Gillard( Birdwood Committee), Major Roland Millbank ( Birdwood Committee), Dr Rosemary Barnard ( Birdwood Committee), Mr. Gionni Di Gravio, Archivist, University of Newcastle; Skye Firth (conservator of the flag at the ICS); Mr.Julian Bickersteth (Managing Director, ICS) and Very Reverend Stephen Williams, Dean of Newcastle during the project.
![Miss Dora Sparke, President of the Newcastle Branch of the Victoria League. The League helped provide comforts for soldiers during World War I. It was a key body contributing to the making of the Birdwood Flag. [This image has been colourised with the help of AI]. Original Photograph: https://uoncc.wordpress.com/2016/06/22/birdwood-launch/](https://hunterlivinghistories.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Dora-Spark.png)
![The Birdwood Flag in its original condition. [Courtesy of The University of Newcastle’s Anglican Diocese Archives in Cultural Collections A6137(iv)]](https://hunterlivinghistories.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Artistic-Impresion-of-the-BW-Flag.png)
