AboutAlbert Kirsch Expertise I am more-or-less expert in vexillology (the study of flags). My expertise is particularly strong in North America at the level of city and county, but if I don`t know the answer I know a dozen people who do. So if there`s a flag in the newspaper or on TV that you have trouble identifying, let me know. I`ll do my best. But PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME TO APPRAISE A FLAG'S VALUE: (1) I have no expertise in that area and (2) even if I did, I cannot appraise something I can't see. Take it to a museum which has a specialist in textiles and the like.
Experience In this field, I designed the flag of Carroll County, Illinois, in 1974 (see http://www.internetni.com/~lanarklib/index.html). You can see my personal flag at http://www.nava.org/memflags.htm
Question QUESTION: My neighbor has a flag in his front yard that I cannot identiy. It has three horizontal stripes-red, white, red in the center white stripe there are two blue stars. Kind of like Austria , but with two blue stars. Could you tell me what it represents.
ANSWER: I don't know, but before I post it to my list, can I ask you to take another look at it? Is it R-W-R like Austria's, or is it a red border all around with two blue stars on a white rectangle in the center? Let me know.
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QUESTION: I looked at it again and it is a red border all around with the 2 blue stars in the white.
Answer I suspected as much. It is the "service flag", flown by the parents (usually) of someone in the military. These folks obviously have two kids serving. Fortunately, the stars are both blue. You've doubtless heard of the "Gold Star Mothers", and you can imagine what a gold star represents. See http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us%5Esvc.html for more discussion of this.
