Embroidered souvenir handkerchief

Souvenir handkerchief with a central white diamond set into a square of white cotton tulle with a scalloped edge. The tulle is machine embroidered with an overall white wavy pattern and brown arabesques; the edge is defined by a row of embroidery in the same brown. The central diamond is also edged in brown and bears an inner row of white embroidery. Set into the middle of the diamond is a hand embroidered rectangle of white silk machine applied with a yellow border. The centre shows an Australian Army Rising Sun badge in yellow, red and blue, two sprays of green leaves and representations of the Australian blue ensign and British Union Jack set as banners in the upper corners.

The history of this handkerchief is unknown. However, souvenirs like this were created especially for soldiers of different nationalities to purchase while they were training in England, on leave, or recovering from wounds or illness after hospitalisation there.