Oregon Public Broadcasting

The state flag that's believed to be Oregon's first goes on display soon on the Eastern Oregon University campus in La Grande.

A textile conservationist recently cleaned and repaired the flag.

Although Oregon was admitted to the union in 1859, the state didn't have a  flag until another state asked for it.

Ken Watson: "It was in 1925 that Oregon was asked by Massachusetts to send a state flag to fly at the 150th anniversary of the battle of Lexington. Oregon had never had a state flag, so the legislature authorized a flag and adopted a design."

That's EOU public services librarian Ken Watson.

Department store Meier and Frank agreed to make the flag. Two employees did the sewing. The flag flew in Massachusetts and at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania.

It also hung for 10 years in Representative Walter M. Pierce's office in Washington, D.C.

Watson says EOU has long known the significance of the flag.  It's been behind glass at the Pierce Library since it was donated to the school in 1954.

Its condition deteriorated there primarily due to fluorescent lighting.  School officials only recently got the funds to preserve it.

Sandra Troon is the textile conservationist who worked on the flag. She says the silk satin fabric was in sad shape.

Sandra Troon: "When it actually got to my lab, it was very fragile. It had some splits. The fiber itself had been markedly deteriorated by light damage."

The familiar royal blue had faded to olive drab. Troon says conservators can't restore faded colors. But she says the images -- the state seal on the front and the beaver on the reverse -- were in pretty good condition. They were hand-painted onto the fabric.

According to the State's Blue Book, it's the only state flag in the union with designs on both sides. But Ken Watson says it can't be displayed that way.

Ken Watson: "We talked about that at length. And unfortunately because the flag at this point is so fragile, it doesn't allow for that. And actually Ms Troon had to stitch it to a conservation backing to provide the necessary support so it could be displayed at all."

The conserved flag has been given a new case that should cut down on the amount of damaging ultraviolet light that hits its surface.

The flag is expected to be put on display at EOU's Inlow Hall sometime in the near future.