Objects of Substance- The Grammar Banner

1970 Youth March. Banners carried by Head Girls, Julie Dickinson and Susan Byth.

Brisbane Girls Grammar School has always carefully managed the delicate balance that comes with a desire to both maintain traditions and embrace innovation. The School is currently engaged in the process of acquiring new banners (including the manufacturing of new standards that will be made by students in our very own design studios). These banners and standards will be of their time, just as the banners and standards of the past were. The new ones will be made from modern materials, using modern techniques like sublimation and laser etching but, importantly, they will be connected to the banners of the past, sharing similar design elements. When this year’s swimming captains held the 1984 banner and led the team at the QGSSSA swimming carnival, they participated in their version of a broader ritual that has been observed in the School for nearly 150 years. Over the years, thousands of Grammar girls have gathered, marched, and cheered together behind banners and standards. Each of these banners is, quite literally, a piece of the School that the students can rally behind; a tangible reminder of who and what they represent. Gathering in concert behind the banner is just one of the ways that Grammar girls confirm to the members of our community that they value the achievements of the past, even as they look most expectantly to the future.

Stephen Fogarty Director of Health and Physical Education