09/27/2026
In 1917, an Army captain named Robert Queisser designed a small flag for a window.
He had two sons serving overseas. The flag he patented carried a blue star for each family member in service, and families across the country began hanging them where neighbors could see. It was a quiet way of saying that someone from this house is out there.
If that person did not come home, the family sewed a gold star over the blue one.
That is where the term comes from. Not a medal. Not a designation handed down by an institution. A mother with a needle, covering a blue star, in a window on an ordinary street. In 1918 the practice was formalized when the Women's Committee of the Council of National Defense asked President Wilson to approve a gold star for mothers who had lost a child in the war, and he did.
Gold Star Mother's and Family's Day is observed on the last Sunday in September, this year on the 27th.
Members of this association know Gold Star families in the communities we serve. Most of them will not say so out loud.
If you know one, they do not need a speech. They need to know their person is still remembered by name. Share this post in their honor.