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N.C. GOP apologizes after mistaking Tim Kaine’s pin

Vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine wore a blue star flag pin on Wednesday night.Mike Segar/REUTERS

In a since-deleted tweet, the North Carolina Republican Party called out Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Kaine for wearing the flag of Honduras on his lapel during his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday.

The tweet: ‘‘ timkaine wears a Honduran flag pin on his jacket but no American flag. Shameful.’’

Except it wasn’t the flag of the small Latin American country where Kaine had spent a year doing missionary work, but instead the pin was a mini Service Flag, or blue star flag, denoting his son’s current service in the United States Marine Corps.

According to the Blue Star Mothers of America website, the flag can be displayed ‘‘by families who have members serving in the Armed Forces during any period of war or hostilities the United States may be engaged in for the duration of such hostilities.’’

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The red-trimmed, white flag comes in a number of variations. Depending on how many service members a family might have in the military, the flag can contain multiple stars. If the family has lost someone in combat, the flag will contain a gold star in lieu of a blue one.

North Carolina has one of the largest concentrations of military bases and personnel in the United States and is home to Kaine’s son’s unit: 2nd Battalion 8th Marines out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, according to military documents. Known as ‘‘America’s Battalion,’’ 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines is a decorated infantry battalion that has deployed multiple times in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

First Lt. Nathaniel Kaine recently deployed with the Marine Corp’s Black Sea Rotational Force, a detachment of Marines based primarily out of Romania that trains with its European counterparts throughout Europe as a part of recent U.S. reassurance measures in region.

‘‘timkaine, the NCGOP offers you, your family, and your son, a sincere apology,’’ the North Carolina GOP later tweeted.