On July 31, 1968, the the U.S. Department of Defense, DoD, issued regulations governing the design, manufacture, use, display and purchase of Service Banners and pins.

DoD regulations currently state that qualified active duty military personnel are Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard including "activated" members of the National Guard and Reserves. There is no requirement that a service member is or was stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere overseas to qualify.

Family members authorized to display the Service Banner include wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, stepparents, parents through adoption, foster parents who stand or stood in loco parentis, sons, daughters, stepchildren, children through adoption, brothers, sisters, half brothers and half sisters of members of the Armed Forces of the United States.

* loco parentis means - acted as parents

The right of Grandparents, In-Laws, Aunts or Uncles to display the Service Banner is not addressed by the DoD. Until such a time as the regulation has changed, we unfortunately are unable honor the request of a Grandparent, In-Law, Aunt or Uncle or other relation.

DOD regulations also state that "The Service Banner may be displayed in a window of the place of residence of persons who are members of the immediate family of service members serving in the Armed Forces of the United States during any period of war or hostilities in which the armed forces of the United States may be engaged for the duration of such period of war or hostilities."

The previous sentence must be read carefully to understand the intent and meaning of the regulation. It prohibits families of veterans of any previous war or conflict from displaying the banner. This has been researched and found to be true regarding both the Blue Star and Gold Star Service Banner.

We are unable to honor the request of families of veterans of any previous war or conflict. We are only able to issue Service Banners to:

• families of service members who are currently engaged in the "Global War On Terrorism" and who are on "Active Duty".
• families of service members who died while engaged in the "Global War On Terrorism" for reasons other than dishonorable, and who were on "Active Duty" at the time of their death. To qualify, their death does not have to be confined to "killed in action", KIA.

For our purposes, we define the current "Global War On Terrorism" as beginning on September 11th, 2001 and continuing on into the indefinite future.

According to the DoD, the Service Banner may "also be displayed by an organization" to honor the members of that organization serving in the armed forces of the United States during any period of war or hostilities. The banners for organizations are also made in proportion to DoD specifications with blue stars placed on the white field to represent those members of the organization that are serving during the war or hostilities. Organizations as outlined by the DoD are churches, schools, colleges, fraternities, sororities, societies, and places of business with which the member of the armed forces of the United States was or is associated.

This is the official 3 X 5 foot DoD approved Blue Star Corporate Flag. It can be used by government, corporate America and other organizations as outlined above, to show their support for their employees or members who are serving active duty during this Global War on Terrorism.