The idea of a Blue Star Service Banner was inspired by Robert L. Queissner, a Spanish-American War Veteran and World War I Army Captain of the 5th Ohio Infantry, who created a banner to honor his two sons, who were serving on the front lines in World War I. The Service Banner quickly gained popularity with others.

On Sept. 24, 1917, an Ohio congressman read the following into the Congressional Record: "The mayor of Cleveland, the Chamber of Commerce and the governor of Ohio have adopted this Service Flag." "The world should know of those who give so much for liberty. The dearest thing in all the world to a father and mother - their children."

The Gold Star Service Banner also traces its roots back to World War I. The idea of a Gold Star developed from The Women's Committee of the Council of National Defense suggestion, which was approved by President Woodrow Wilson, that mothers who lost a child in the war should wear a black mourning band, with a Gold Star, on their left arm.

After having served as President of the United States from 1901 to 1909, Theodore Roosevelt and his family displayed a Gold Star Service Banner in honor of their youngest son, twenty year old Quentin, who on July 14th, 1918, while serving as a fighter pilot, was shot down and killed behind enemy lines over France.

Quentin Roosevelt in his Nieuport 28 Fighter Plane in France

During WWI and WWII most banners were hand made and sewn by mothers across the nation. One of the most famous Gold Star Service Banners was that of the five Sullivan brothers of Waterloo, Iowa, who all perished on the U.S.S. Juneau which was torpedoed while operating in the vicinity of Guadalcanal in November of 1942, taking her captain and 550 crewmen down with her.

The Secretary of War approved the official Service Banner design in February 1943. Congress authorized the Service Banner on October 17, 1943.

Did you see the movie "Saving Private Ryan" and do you remember the four star, Blue Star Service Banner hanging in Mrs. Ryan's kitchen window facing the driveway?

A screen shot of Mrs. Ryan's banner

"Saving Private Ryan" was based on a real family. William and Margaret Ryan, the parents of James, Daniel, Peter and Sean Ryan, displayed a Blue Star Service Banner with four stars at their Payton, coincidentally also, Iowa home in 1944.

Within the first five minutes of the newly released Clint Eastwood film, Flags Of Our Fathers, two Blue Star Service Banners are shown flying in the windows of two different homes. One is flying in the window of the Texas home of the parents of USMC Corporal Harlon H. Block. Early on the morning of February 19, 1945, Corporal Block along with four other Marines and a Navy hospital corpsman, raised the Flag of our Country atop Mount Suribachi, on the small Japanese island of Iwo Jima. More information here

A World War II Poster

View more World War II posters and paintings featuring the Service Banner

The Service Banner in Song

The Service Banner was not popular during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. During Desert Storm some U.S. ships sent Service Banners to the families of everyone aboard. Because Desert Storm was of such short duration, the Service Banner never really had the time to catch on.