I was going to ask what these were called but I managed to find it. So now I figured I would share my new knowledge with you guys. I have always seen these but never knew they had a name or what the history was behind them...

Service flag Link From Wikipedia In the United States, family members of service members in harm's way can fly an official banner proclaiming such. The flag or banner is defined as a white field with a red border, with a blue star for each family member in active duty. A gold star (with a blue edge) represents a family member that died during service, without specifying cause of death -- it could be killed in action, or died due to unrelated causes. If stars of different colors are used on the same flag, the gold ones are to be displayed above or to the left of the blue stars. Manufacture of these flags are only by specific government license in the territories under American jurisdiction. These flags were first used in World War I, with subsequent standardization and codification by the end of World War II. They were not popular during the Vietnam Conflict but have come back into use. In modern usage, an organization may fly a service flag if one of its members is serving active duty.

Link This standard is displayed by immediate family members of a person serving in the Armed Forces during a period of war. It may be flown as a traditional flag with canvas heading and grommets beneath the US flag on a flagpole although it is more commonly seen as a bannerette hung in a home or in a window. The flag was designed by Capt. R.L. Queisser and copyrighted in 1917. The copyright has since passed to the US Dept. of Defense. Organizations and businesses may also display the Service Flag if they have members serving in the Armed Forces. The family member who is in the service does not need to be stationed overseas in order for his or her family to display the Service Flag. Each star indicates one family member serving in the Armed Forces of the United States. If multiple stars are shown, a gold star takes the place of honor nearest the staff The blue star represents one family member serving in the Armed Forces. The blue star is covered or replaced with a gold star to indicate that the family member was killed or died during the war or period of hostilities.

 

You can order them at  www.serviceflags.com/tshirtheartmain.htm  They are in the original WWI felt styles.  It's where I got mine.  They have a flagpole version on sale now fro $20 and if it is as nice as the window models, it's a hell of a deal.  I have one on order.  Also  have a couple of nice T-shirt designs for Moms.

One of our idiot asshole neighbors up the street put one up with 3 stars after we put ours up.  Always trying to one up with Christmas decorations, drooping stories about they upgraded their house.  Too many cars to park so they rented some driveway space, etc.  Maybe they liked the design, but  we think the wife just had to one up us.  Since they only have 2 sons and neither are in the military was a little too ostentatious for some of the other neighbors.  The former Marine that lives by them asked them which of their boys was on active duty.  "None, why"  he told them the significance of the flag.  "Oh."  Still kept it up.  Another neighbor asked them where their son was stationed and they only had 2 boys didn't they?  It took about 3 months before they took it down.

Some people... I'm glad the people in your neighborhood that DO have a grasp on reality set them straight, even if it took a whiel for it to sink in. Morons! Unfortunately, I suspect they aren't the only ones that do that. When they sell those things they should include the purpose of it on a little certificate or something. Better yet, the units sending people down range should fron the money to have one sent to the parents and the parents can educate all the dummies like your neighbor.

Quoted: One of our idiot asshole neighbors up the street put one up with 3 stars after we put ours up.  Always trying to one up with Christmas decorations, drooping stories about they upgraded their house.  Too many cars to park so they rented some driveway space, etc.  Maybe they liked the design, but  we think the wife just had to one up us.  Since they only have 2 sons and neither are in the military was a little too ostentatious for some of the other neighbors.  The former Marine that lives by them asked them which of their boys was on active duty.  "None, why"  he told them the significance of the flag.  "Oh."  Still kept it up.  Another neighbor asked them where their son was stationed and they only had 2 boys didn't they?  It took about 3 months before they took it down.

I sell them at my print company for cost, and give away the gold star for free. Thank god i have only gave away three of the gold stars so far.