BANGOR — A battle flag carried by the 17th Maine Volunteer Regiment during the Civil War is coming home to Maine after a number of years in a private collection and then in a Georgia museum.

The flag, a gift of the Atlanta History Center, is now being evaluated at a textile conservation laboratory in Sharpsburg, Md., and after undergoing conservation measures, it will be displayed at the Maine State Museum in Augusta.

“This flag saw some of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War,” said Douglas Hawes, curator of the Maine State Museum’s historic collections.

“It was carried with distinction at the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, the siege and fall of Petersburg and Sayler’s Creek [all of which were fought in Virginia],” Hawes said.

The battle flag no doubt will be the one of the hot topics in Augusta today, when children from 15 Maine schools — including Searsport District Middle School, Dr. Lewis S. Libby School in Milford, Vinalhaven High School, Hermon Elementary School and Surry Middle School — gather at the Hall of Flags to present Gov. Angus King with money they have raised to help save Maine’s historic flag collection.

The news of the Civil War flag’s return is particularly welcome so close to Flag Day, observed each year on June 14 in honor of the American flag.

The flag’s history is significant, Hawes said. In March 1865, a month before the Civil War’s end, the Portland Press Daily reported the arrival of a “glorious flag” of the 17th Maine Regiment at the Merchant’s Exchange.

According to this contemporary account, the flag’s staff had been split in two, and 130 musket shots had pierced its silk.

According to Hawes, the staff accompanying the flag — which does not appear to have been repaired — bears a silver plaque which reads: “To the 17th Reg’t Maine Vols. By the Merchants of Portland as a testimonial for their Gallantry in defense of their Country. Portland, Feb’r 22nd, 1864.”

The newspaper also reported that two sergeants were killed and three wounded while supporting the flag that the merchants of Portland had presented to the unit one year before.

The return of the flag ends years of negotiations, including efforts by U.S. Rep. John Baldacci, to have the artifact placed in the Hall of Flags in the Maine State House.

“It really is a historic event,” Baldacci said Thursday. “[Gen.] Joshua Chamberlain [of Brewer] and the men from Maine and the 17th Maine Volunteer Regiment during the Civil War would be proud that it’s coming back to its home and amongst all of our flags in the Hall of Flags.

“It really is a truly historic time,” he said.

The Atlanta History Center obtained the flag as part of the extensive DuBose Collection, which comprised more than 5,000 Civil War artifacts from both the Union and Confederate armies.

Negotiations for the flag’s return to Maine began in earnest in April 1995, when the Legislature passed a resolution asking that the flag be turned over to the people of Maine.

Noting its historical significance, Baldacci urged his colleagues from Georgia to have the flag returned to Maine.

Hawes said the flag is in poor condition, which is not uncommon for a flag of its battle scars and the ravages of time.

Fortunately, the curator added, the Georgia collector who owned the flag before giving it to the Atlanta History Center did not attempt to unroll it from its staff or alter it. While at the center, the flag was kept in ideal conditions.

“Maine sent thousands of her sons to defend the Union during the Civil War, many of whom never returned,” Baldacci said. “This flag represents the depth of their courage and the importance of a strong nation, and I am pleased that it will finally be returned home where it belongs.”

According to Hawes, it is not unusual that this flag was in private hands for a long time before being returned.

“We have records of other flags that descended in private families or were given to local organizations,” Hawes said. “Some of these were later donated to the state; others we have not been able to locate.”

The museum is in the midst of a multiyear campaign called Save Maine’s Colors to raise funds for the preservation of the state’s collection of more than 300 flags.