In recent weeks, a small team of The Hockey Museum (THM) volunteers have been beavering away to list and re-pack the collection of former Teddington Hockey Club stalwart and Wales international player Michael Ken Howells (known as Ken Howells). Ken’s material was previously considered lost to hockey but, incredibly, it resurfaced last year. It is a highly significant assemblage of hockey heritage; a once-private collection that ought to have been the foundation of a museum of hockey its own right!

The rediscovered collection of Ken Howells arrived with The Hockey Museum in 2023.

Ken clearly harboured ambitions for a museum of sorts. He opted to display numerous items in boxes and cases complete with small text labels. Many involved with THM recall seeing Ken’s displays in the former Teddington Hockey and Cricket Club pavilion in Bushy Park. Much of his collection arrived at THM in these cases, in differing states of disrepair and with an over-zealous use of oily Blu-Tac which left much to be desired by modern conservation standards!

The flag in its original display case with cloth badges representing the founding nations of the IFWHA.

The IFWHA flag shown laid out next its original display case.

One gem recently identified amongst the collection is this fascinating embroidered flag, emblazoned with the logo of the International Federation of Women’s Hockey Associations (IFWHA). Its large size can be seen by scaling it against the one-metre-high presentation box in which it first arrived (shown in the above photograph). As part of the recent work on the KHC, our textiles volunteers Judith and Zoe were enlisted to carefully examine and re-pack the flag. The following is Zoe’s explanation of why this rare flag is such a special acquisition for THM.

The front of the IFWHA flag, extracted from its case and carefully unfolded.

Unfurling the IFWHA Flag

By Zoe Tickner

As Judith and I were working to preserve and pack this flag away, we became increasingly interested with its unusual design and style. We proceeded to examine it more closely.

The IFWHA, the world governing body for women’s hockey, had been founded in 1927. The founding members were England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Australia, the USA, Denmark and South Africa. The IFWHA focused on hockey games at international level and upon the spirit in which games were played rather than the results. It played a key role in the unification and development of women’s international hockey – the first women’s international match had taken place in Dublin in 1896 when Ireland had beaten England 2-0. By the early 1980s and with the increasing significance of the Olympic movement to hockey, pressure for a single international governing body could no longer be ignored, and in 1982 the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and the IFWHA merged. According to Ken Howells’s original text label, the flag was designed by the Scottish Women’s Hockey Association (SWHA) for the IFWHA but was returned to them in 1982 when the IFWHA “reluctantly but realistically […] accepted absorption into the FIH”.

The date of the flag’s creation is not known. Whilst the significance of this flag can be owed to this provenance, what made this flag intriguing to me is the way in which it has been constructed and its sewing technique. The main body of the logo design features applique and specifically cut-through applique – a method where layers of fabric are stitched together with different shapes and patterns and then different layers are cut away to reveal a new layer of fabric beneath. This is best shown in the ocean section of this flag’s design or within the yellow and purple centre section. While this technique creates an interesting design – the globe showcasing the international nature of the IFWHA – the multiple layers of fabric also make this flag fairly heavy, notably in comparison to the more lightweight cream fabric used for the flag’s ‘ground’.

Detail of the applique on the IFWHA flag.

Additionally, unlike most of the flags I have come across since starting volunteering with THM’s textiles collection, this flag’s design is unique in that it is mirrored on the back rather than solely being one sided. This further adds to the weight of the flag, as the layering of fabric for the applique is also used on the reversed side. One cannot underestimate the time, effort and skill that went into making this flag, notably the execution of the applique technique or the perfect matching up of stitching on both sides. However, it would be fair to question why it needed to be mirrored, as well as how and where this flag was displayed at the time of use considering its weight and design.

The reverse of the IFWHA flag showing the unexpected mirroring of the applique and stitching.

We do not know who specifically made or sewed this flag. The craftsmanship and level of sewing skill has already been noted, so we can assume that they were a highly accomplished seamstress alongside, presumably, being a hockey player or enthusiast. Perhaps it was not just one person, but a group of sewers, or even a relative to a member of the SWHA. The story woven into the sewing technique, individual stitches and its construction are a valuable testament to the more everyday history intertwined within the objects at THM and the role these play in hockey and women’s history.

The unusual construction and weight of the flag make its ambiguity all the more tantalising. It suggests that potentially whoever made it was not an expert flag maker, but certainly was excellent at sewing. We hope the Scottish Hockey Heritage Group can help to uncover more about the role of the SWHA in the creation of this beautiful flag.