HistoricSiteMarkers
Postwar & Contemporary

Blue Star Memorial Highway

Turner County, Turner County, Georgia

Marker Inscription

Blue Star Memorial Highway. A tribute to the Armed Forces that have defended the United States of America sponsored by The Garden Club of Georgia, Inc. in cooperation with Department of Transportation of Georgia District IV and Tifton Garden Club; Tifton, Georgia 1974 A.D.

Erected by Garden Club of Georgia

The Story

Begun in 1945 by garden clubs across the country, the Blue Star Memorial honors the armed forces along American highways, its emblem drawn from the blue-star service flags of World War II. This Turner County marker, dated 1974, was sponsored by the Garden Club of Georgia, the state transportation department, and the Tifton Garden Club. It dedicates the highway to all who have defended the United States.

Why it matters

The 1974 date shows how the Blue Star tradition kept expanding long after the war that inspired it, marking new highways for decades.

Own a business near here? Add it to the map.

Themes & tags

Military & WartimeMemorial

Nearby & related markers

Gold Star Memorial A tribute to Gold Star families

Turner County, GA

The Gold Star Memorial program extends the garden clubs' Blue Star tradition to honor Gold Star families โ€” those who lost a loved one in military service. The term dates to World War I, when a family replaced the blue star in its service flag with a gold one after a death in uniform. Sponsored by the Camellia District Garden Clubs with the Garden Club of Georgia and the state transportation department, this marker stands in south-central Georgia's Turner County.

Blue Star Memorial Highway

Turner County, GA

The Blue Star Memorial, launched in 1945 by the National Garden Clubs, marks American highways in tribute to the armed forces, the blue star recalling the service flags of wartime families. In Turner County the Rose Garden Club of Ashburn joined the Garden Club of Georgia and the state transportation department to place this marker. It honors all who have defended the nation.

Blue Star Memorial

Tifton, GA

The Blue Star Memorial program grew from a 1945 garden-club effort in New Jersey to honor the armed forces with flowering highways, its emblem taken from the blue-star service flags of World War II. The National Garden Clubs spread it across the country, and in Tifton the Council of Garden Clubs and the Camellia District set this marker as a lasting tribute to all who have defended the United States.

Blue Star Memorial By-Way

Tifton, GA

Blue Star Memorial Byways extend the tribute begun in 1945, when garden clubs honored service members by dedicating highways in their name, the blue star echoing the banners families hung during World War II. This Tifton marker, placed by the Azalea Garden Club under the National Garden Clubs, dedicates a stretch of road to the armed forces of America.