History of The Flags of Romania - Storage, Restoration and Conservation of Old Flags

Storage, Restoration and Conservation of Old Flags

In the 19th century, after a modern army was established in the two Danubian Principalities, old military and princely flags were deposited at the Army Arsenal. In 1919 these were all transferred to the National Military Museum. Flags that witnessed the Romanian War of Independence were replaced in 1902 and kept until 1928-29 in the throne room of the Royal Palace, after which they entered the Military Museum’s collection. In 1971 a significant number of old flags was given to the National History Museum.

In 1966, there were 1075 Romanian and foreign flags at the Central Military Museum, of which 949 were original, including the flagpole, top decoration and canvas, 42 were copies and reconstructions, and for 84, just the flagpole and decoration remained. Together with other categories of flags, standards, ship flags, pennants, sashes and ties, the collection reached 1248 items. By the mid-2000s, the museum’s flag and standard collection counted 10,826 objects.

A majority of Romania’s older flags have a field that is either deteriorated (some are missing almost entirely) or slashed by bullets or swords.

Museum experts have taken steps to preserve flags, including: introducing and stitching a double tulle into the majority of flags (starting in the 1930s), washing certain dust-covered flags using special methods, placing dark protective covers over the flags to shield the fabric from light, replacing seriously deteriorated exemplars with copies, photographing flags in order to avoid repeated manipulation, and climate-controlling storage areas and exhibit halls. Certain flags are also subject to restoration work.

Read more about this topic:  History Of The Flags Of Romania

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