A friend with a flag business in Pittsburg (Gideon Flags) is selling a lot of them and of the related blue star lapel pins 
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Posted on 09/26/2002 6:02:16 AM PDT by SJackson
NORMAN -- In researching material for her latest book, "The Feester Filibuster," Molly Griffis' memory was jogged. And, that memory set her on a crusade.
She remembered, as do others old enough to have lived through part of World War II, that families with husbands, sons and daughters in the military were entitled to hang a blue star flag in their front windows.
The flag had a border of red surrounding a rectangle of white. There was one blue star in the center of the white field for every person from that household who was in service.
If that person was killed, the star became gold.
Griffis said when she was growing up in Apache, there were two houses, side by side, that had star flags in their front windows.
The real story is that one family received word that their son had been killed, but before they could change the blue star to a gold one, their son came home.
The family next door was not so fortunate, their son didn't come home.
"As a kid we used to walk by the houses to see if the star had been changed to gold," she said.
She said her grandmother had a flag with two stars because she had two sons in service.
Joe March, spokesman for the national office of the American Legion, said the Blue Star Service banner was invented by an Army captain in 1917 who had two sons in service.
The idea began catching on during World War I. After the war, the Department of Defense took over the licensing of the flag and by World War II they were standardized.
At that time, only families with an immediate family member in service was entitled to display the flag.
March said that two weeks before Sept. 11, 2001, at the American Legion's convention in Texas, the group decided to revive the Blue Star Service banner's use.
Then after Sept. 11, 2001, the Legion decided to accelerate that revival, March said.
The American Legion is selling the flags, as are other outlets across the country.
To buy a banner from the Legion, visit their Web site at http://emblem.legion.org or call them, toll free at (888) 453-4466.
The service banners are 8- by 16 inches and come with a wooden rod with gold finials and a gold braided string from which to hang it.
The blue star flags sell for $6.95 with one star and $12.95 for flags with either two or three stars.
Gold star flags sell for the same prices.
March said the rules for flying the banner have been relaxed since WWII.
Now anyone with a family member in service can hang a Blue Star Service banner in their window. It could be for a son, daughter, husband, wife, uncle, cousin or some other relative who is fighting the war on terrorism.
"One person could actually have five different relatives flying a flag for them," he said.
March said that if people with family members in the armed services will display the flags, it will show that "the tentacles of fighting terrorism reach to every part of the country."
Griffis would relax that rule a bit more to include anyone who wants to show support for the president.
Sales of flags have really increased since Sept. 11, 2001.
Griffis said her mission is to see the flags in windows all over Norman.
"Particularly if we go to war," she said.
A friend with a flag business in Pittsburg (Gideon Flags) is selling a lot of them and of the related blue star lapel pins .
You are correct. The laws and regulations regarding these flags were never repealed, but they have fallen out of the popular knowledge.
An interesting thing about these flags is that the Department of Defense regulates their manufacture. Anyone who manufactures them with out a license is subject to a fine; and if they are not made according to the prescribed specifications the manufacturer is subject to a fine. No such fines are imposed for the improper manufacture of any other flags in the USA to my knowledge.
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