Thursday, July 4, 2013

Patriotic Young Women 1940's


Unfortunately, I couldn't find a picture that fit this week's Sepia Saturday prompt. I did, however, find a picture of two patriotic young women posing in front of a service flag. Originally used in the First World War, service flags became popular again in the Second and were hung in the windows of those with family serving in the war. Each blue star represented a family member fighting, and each gold star represented family members who had died during service.  They are still used today.

To all my fellow Americans, Happy 4th of July!

And if you know who these two ladies may be, let us know in the comments!


14 comments:

  1. I'm afraid service flags and their symbolism are new to me. Very interesting though.

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  2. Yes, well spotted. There is a Wiki page about service flags at
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_flag

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  3. Thanks for the interesting information about service flags. I'll keep a lookout for them henceforth. Such a perfect post for the 4th celebration.

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  4. I did know about service flags being used in prior wars but didn't realize they were still used today.

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  5. I'd not heard of service flags either, and this one is so diminutive, that it was hard to spot, not knowing what to look for.

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  6. You were good to spot it! I think I would have missed it completely.

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  7. It is a good picture of the girls, and I like the glimpse inside the window.

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  8. And I thought a service flag was what I have to suffer in a supermarket. Seriously though I had not heard of these before.

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  9. I'm enjoying a real education in Sepia saturday today!

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  10. Thanks everyone for your comments! The flag was something that actually jumped out at me when I bought the picture. I knew a little about service flags already, but enjoyed researching them more. :)

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  11. My grandmother was so proud of her service flag --- only 1 star, but it was for her baby boy. Good choice for this holiday week -- at least hear in the States.

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  12. Very interesting picture. At first glance I wondered what all was going on in the windows! Now I know!

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  13. Yes, I had heard about service flags but I've never seen one until your photo. That means they had 3 sons serving in the war? Wow, hope they all came home.
    Nancy

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  14. When you think of how common service flags were to neighborhoods during WW2 and how foreign they are today, considering we've been fighting two wars. So few people have participated in these last two. Nope, we went shopping.

    That's a nice photo.

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