the miners made their own flag which was flown at the eureka stockade. the flag was torn down during the battle and taken away by one of the soldiers. it was given to the ballarat art gallery in the 1890s. pieces of the flag were sometimes given to important visitors to ballarat. it is believed that queen elizabeth ii has a small piece. in the 1973 the flag was restored and put on display at the art gallery. the display was opened by the prime minister of australia, gough whitlam. the flag has been put on the victorian heritage register and was named an icon by the national trust in 2006. in august 2010, the ballarat art gallery said that the flag needed further work to keep it safe. it was sent to south australia to be restored at a cost of more than au$100,000. the gallery has built a new airtight case to hold the flag.