Service
Flag
The "Service Flag" was
used during World War I and World War II. Each family was entitled to
hang a
small Service flag in their window; the blue star in the center of the
red-bordered white rectangle signified a family member in active
service. The
star was replaced (or covered) with a gold star if the family member
died in
action; (Hence the name of the organization "Gold Star Mothers" of
women who had lost sons in the war). Service
flags about one foot long and always hung vertically from a hook or
some other
feature of a front window of the home. A service lapel button
was approved to
be worn by members of the immediate family of an individual serving in
the
Armed Forces of the If a family had a husband
and a son,
or multiple family members in the service of their country, then
additional
blue stars were set into the white rectangle. Organizations and
corporations
extended this practice to fly flags incorporating stars for each of
their
members/employees who were off to war and, of course, would
change/overlay the
blue stars with gold ones when the news came back that one of theirs
had died
in action. These larger flags, some 50 stars in a circle, many of them
in gold,
measuring about 8 feet long overall, were sometimes flown outside on a
pole,
but most often were suspended from the ceiling of the factory / meeting
hall
indoors. These are the banners
used for the subjects in Fennville.
 Other Variations are: ·
A Blue Star - "Service in
Army
or Navy." ·
A Blue Star with a Gold
Greek Cross
in the Center - "Wounded in Service." ·
An inverted Blue Star
with both the
Gold Greek Cross and the Gold Ring (as in (2) and (3)) - "Missing." ·
An inverted Blue Star
inside of a
Red Ring - "Captured." |