• Title
  Bowman flag, 1806 / said to be by Mary Bowman
• Creator
  Mary Bowman
• Call number
  XR 1
  
• Level of description
  fonds
• Date
  
  1806
• Type of material
  Graphic Materials, Objects
• Reference code
  446335
• Issue Copy
  Digitised
• Physical Description
  1 flag - painted silk flag, board mounted, timber framed & glass fronted. - 91 cm. x 220 cm. flag in frame measuring 118 cm. x 255 cm.
  
• Scope and Content
  The main part of the flag is square, with 2 pennants attached on the right and rosettes and ribbons (probably used to attach it to a staff) on the left.
  
  The main square section depicts a painted motif in the form of a Coat of Arms; an emu and kangaroo support a shield on which are roses, thistles and shamrocks. A scroll above the shield bears the word "Unity" and another scroll below the central motif has Nelson's signal "England expects every man will do his duty". The 2 pennants attached to the right of the flag are blank.
  
• Access Conditions
  
  Access via appointment
• General note
  
  This flag was flown by John Bowman on his farm Archerfield, Richmond NSW, after receiving news of the victory of the Battle of Trafalgar reached NSW in April 1806. The flag is the first recorded use of the kangaroo and emu as supporters of a shield, and may be the origin of their use on the Commonwealth Coat of Arms.
  An account of the battle and victory, on 21 October 1805, was published in The Sydney Gazette on 13 April 1806. A day of thanksgiving was ordered by Governor King for the following Sunday at which 'all persons not prevented by sickness or the necessary care of their dwellings are expected to attend.'
  According to the Bowman family, the flag was made either by Mary Bowman, John Bowman's daughter, from her mother Honor's wedding dress, or by Honor Bowman, John's wife. Mary, born in 1797, was aged nine years at the time.
  It is unlikely that Honor or Mary Bowman painted the image, which appears to be the work of a professional sign painter.
  
  A B & W. photo of the flag before restoration & a manuscript label received with the flag are held at Ab 28.
  
  References:
  Origin of Australian arms / WA Gullick. Sydney: [Govt Printer], 1914; Flag of stars / Frank Cayley. Adelaide: Rigby, 1966
  Margot Riley ""The Bowman familys' Trafalgar flage: symbol of patriotism or Australian Nelsoniana"", Australiana, August 2005, p.32-35
  Digital order no:Album ID : 874374
• Conservation note
  
  Restored in 1977 by the Fremantle Branch of the Western Australian Museum (details of this work at PXn 195).
  
  Oil [?] paint is brittle and much has fallen away, with surface crazing across what remains.
• Topic
  coats of arms
  emus
  flags
  kangaroos
  
• Exhibited in
  
  Possessed : an exhibition of treasures - State Library of New South Wales (4 March - 29 June, 1997)
  ONE hundred : celebrating the Mitchell Library centenary - State Library of New South Wales (March, 2010 - June, 2010)

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