Honoring Gold Star Mothers’ and Family Day
Gold Star Mother’s & Family Day: Remembering the Love & Honoring the Sacrifice.
Today (Sept. 25), we acknowledge all Gold Star Family members and the powerful commitment they make as they move their families forward through their grief journey. They are bold, they are strong, all while in the midst of their own grief and healing.
Today we honor all Gold Star Families and recognize the sacrifices that they have made for our country.
From the Angel Team, you have our love, honor and respect.
Gold Star, Gold Star Mother’s and Gold Star Family History
The tradition of flying a flag with a gold star on it started during World War I. Families changed a blue star (which signified their soldier was away at war) to a gold star after he or she did not return home. This tranistion allowed the community to know the price the family had paid in the cause of freedom. Around that time, the term “Gold Star Family” came to mean that you were a surviving family of a person who died in service and families hung banners with a gold star outside their homes. The tradition has since been authorized and seeks to ease the grief of mothers and families while reminding that no one truly serves alone.
Grieving family members gradually honored their fallen loved ones in other ways using the gold star symbol. In 1918, President Wilson allowed grieving military mothers to wear a traditional black armband featuring a gold star. Soon after, it was approved for families to cover the blue star on the service flag outside of their home with a gold one. As of 1947, Gold Star family members can also display the Gold Star Lapel.
The American Gold Star Mothers Inc. was created in 1917 through the efforts of Grace Siebold, whose son was killed during World War I. Siebold gathered what would become the American Gold Star Mothers to grieve together and tend to hospitalized veterans in local hospitals. The organization formalized as a non-profit in 1928 with a mission of remembrance, education and patriotism. Still today, the group supports Gold Star mothers in their grief, hold an annual conference and organize events with supporting groups.
Congress formalized Gold Star Mother’s Day in 1936 as the last Sunday in September. In 2011, President Barack Obama amended the declaration to be Gold Star Mother’s and Family Day to include families as well as mothers. Today, the holiday includes any immediate family member and authorizes that person to display the Gold Star Service Flag.
