republic-os/legal/us/code/title-10/chapter-57/section-1126.md

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LegalText	10 U.S.C. § 1126	Gold star lapel button: eligibility and distribution	us	united_states_code	code_section	10	ARMED FORCES	57	DECORATIONS AND AWARDS	1126	10 U.S.C. § 1126	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc10@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t10/s1126	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-10/usc10.xml	af7755f1c17cab8ddb722fd2764b4f188eb1a93d59f6abf0cc0277ff4897a0c0	06a2679d38355c44f4219c983fdad34009233205d6ba271593a4c1b17a739ec1	a32a9318ddead0f3d0aa6876a75c1682dd0751a5c2539612a47cc891c6fb8878	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

10 U.S.C. § 1126 - Gold star lapel button: eligibility and distribution

Text

(a) A lapel button, to be known as the gold star lapel button, shall be designed, as approved by the Secretary of Defense, to identify next of kin of members of the armed forces—

(1) who lost their lives during World War I, World War II, or during any subsequent period of armed hostilities in which the United States was engaged before July 1, 1958;

(2) who lost or lose their lives after June 30, 1958—

(A) while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States;

(B) while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or

(C) while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict in which the United States is not a belligerent party against an opposing armed force; or

(3) who lost or lose their lives after March 28, 1973, as a result of—

(A) an international terrorist attack against the United States or a foreign nation friendly to the United States, recognized as such an attack by the Secretary of Defense; or

(B) military operations while serving outside the United States (including the commonwealths, territories, and possessions of the United States) as part of a peacekeeping force.

(b) Under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary concerned, upon application to him, shall furnish one gold star lapel button without cost to each next of kin of a member who lost or loses his or her life under any circumstances prescribed in subsection (a).

(c) Not more than one gold star lapel button may be furnished to any one individual except that, when a gold star lapel button furnished under this section has been lost, destroyed, or rendered unfit for use without fault or neglect on the part of the person to whom it was furnished, the button may be replaced upon application and without cost.

(d) In this section:

(1) The term “next of kin” means individuals standing in such relationship to members of the armed forces described in subsection (a) as the Secretaries concerned shall jointly specify in regulations for purposes of this section.

(2) The term “World War I” includes the period from April 6, 1917, to March 3, 1921.

(3) The term “World War II” includes the period from September 8, 1939, to July 25, 1947, at 12 o’clock noon.

(4) The term “military operations” includes those operations involving members of the armed forces assisting in United States Government sponsored training of military personnel of a foreign nation.

(5) The term “peacekeeping force” includes those personnel assigned to a force engaged in a peacekeeping operation authorized by the United Nations Security Council.

(Added Pub. L. 89–534, § 1(1), Aug. 11, 1966, 80 Stat. 345, § 1124; renumbered § 1126, Pub. L. 89–718, § 9, Nov. 2, 1966, 80 Stat. 1117; amended Pub. L. 98–94, title XII, § 1268(8), Sept. 24, 1983, 97 Stat. 706; Pub. L. 100–26, § 7(k)(5), Apr. 21, 1987, 101 Stat. 284; Pub. L. 103–160, div. A, title XI, § 1143, Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1757; Pub. L. 116–92, div. A, title V, § 581, Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 1411.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

Prior ProvisionsProvisions similar to those in this section were contained in sections 1 to 3 of act Aug. 1, 1947, ch. 426, 61 Stat. 710, which were classified to sections 182a to 182c of former Title 36, Patriotic Societies and Observances, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 89–534, § 2, Aug. 11, 1966, 80 Stat. 345.

Amendments2019—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 116–92, § 581(a)(1), struck out “widows, parents, and” after “identify” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 116–92, § 581(a)(2), substituted “each” for “the widow and to each parent and”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 116–92, § 581(b), substituted “and without cost.” for “and payment of an amount sufficient to cover the cost of manufacture and distribution.” Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 116–92, § 581(a)(3), added par. (1), redesignated pars. (5) to (8) as (2) to (5), respectively, and struck out former pars. (1), (2), (3), and (4) which defined “widow”, “parents”, “next of kin”, and “children”, respectively. 1993—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–160, § 1143(a), struck out “of the United States” after “armed forces” in introductory provisions, redesignated cls. (i) to (iii) of par. (2) as subpars. (A) to (C), respectively, and added par. (3). Subsec. (d)(7), (8). Pub. L. 103–160, § 1143(b), added pars. (7) and (8). 1987—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 100–26 substituted colon for dash at end of introductory provisions, inserted “The term” in each par., and substituted periods for semicolons in pars. (1) to (4) and period for “; and” in par. (5). 1983—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 98–94 substituted “who” for “Who”.