Black field. A white silhouette in profile. A watchtower and a strand of barbed wire behind him. Three words underneath. It is the only flag other than the Stars and Stripes that has ever flown over the White House, and most people who recognize it could not say where it came from.
What the POW/MIA Flag Means
The POW/MIA flag stands for American service members held as prisoners of war or still listed as missing in action, and for the commitment to account for them. The silhouette represents the missing man, the watchtower and barbed wire represent captivity, and the motto beneath reads YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN. It is a flag about an unfinished obligation rather than a victory.
That is the whole of it, and the plainness is deliberate. There is no eagle, no color, and no date, because the design was meant to be a standing reminder rather than a commemoration of something concluded.
What the Black Flag With the Silhouette Actually Is
If you have seen it outside a post office, on a county courthouse, or beneath the national flag at a veterans' hall and wondered what it was, that is the POW/MIA flag. The black and white palette is what makes people assume it is a mourning flag or a military unit flag. It is neither.
It is also not a service flag. Blue star and gold star banners hang in windows and represent a family's own service member. The POW/MIA flag is a national symbol flown publicly, and the two get confused often enough to be worth separating. If you are looking for the service and armed forces flags, those sit in our military and service flags range.
Where the Flag Came From
The flag was created in the early 1970s for the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, an organization founded by the wives and relatives of missing servicemen who wanted a symbol the public could not ignore. The design work was done by Newt Heisley, a former World War Two pilot working at an advertising agency, and the silhouette is widely reported to have been modeled on his own son.
Congress formally recognized the flag in 1990. Federal law then set specific days on which it must be displayed at designated federal properties, and a later act broadened the requirement so that many of those locations now fly it year round rather than on a handful of dates. The trajectory of the law is worth knowing, because it explains why you see the flag far more often now than you would have in the 1980s.
Is It Okay to Fly the POW/MIA Flag
Yes, and there is no restriction on private citizens flying it. Anyone may display it, on any day, at a home or a business. The federal requirements apply to government properties and set a floor rather than a ceiling.
The six federal days
Federal law names six days for display at designated locations. Armed Forces Day in May, Memorial Day at the end of May, Flag Day on June 14, Independence Day on July 4, National POW/MIA Recognition Day in September, and Veterans Day on November 11. Those are the dates that matter if you are running a school, a business, or a civic building and want to be correct without flying it daily.
Flying it with the US flag on one halyard
When the POW/MIA flag shares a pole with the United States flag, the national flag goes on top and the POW/MIA flag hangs directly beneath it. The POW/MIA flag should be the same size or smaller, never larger. On a two-pole arrangement, the national flag takes the position of honor and the POW/MIA flag goes to its left as the observer faces them.
Watch the combined load. Two flags on one halyard present far more sail area than one, and a pole rated for a single flag of a given size is not automatically rated for two. Check the pairing on our wind rating chart before you add a second flag to an existing pole. The order and spacing conventions sit alongside the rest of the display rules in our flag etiquette guide.
National POW/MIA Recognition Day
National POW/MIA Recognition Day falls on the third Friday in September, which in 2026 is September 18. It is not a federal holiday and nothing closes. What happens instead is ceremonies, at military installations, at veterans' posts, at state capitols, and at a growing number of schools.
If your organization marks it, the useful version is small and specific. Fly the flag, hold a short moment, and if you have a local connection to a missing service member, name them. A ceremony that names someone lands differently from one that does not.
Choosing a Size for a POW/MIA Flag
Size follows the pole and the setting. A 3x5 is the standard residential and indoor size and the one most households and small businesses fly. Larger sizes suit commercial poles, municipal buildings, and veterans' halls where the flag needs to read from a parking lot rather than a front path. We make it from 2x3 up through 12x18.
For indoor and ceremonial display, the flag is often paired with a case or a grave marker rather than a pole, and our flag cases and grave markers cover that side. If you are replacing a faded outdoor one, a black flag in particular shows UV damage early, so judge it on the depth of the black rather than on the white.
We make POW/MIA flags in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, alongside the American flags that fly above them. The 3x5 POW/MIA flag covers most residential poles.
If you need a larger size for a commercial pole or a municipal building, you can shop POW/MIA flags in every size we make.
FAQ
What is the meaning of the POW-MIA flag?
It stands for American service members held as prisoners of war or still unaccounted for as missing in action, and for the national commitment to bring them home. The silhouette is the missing man, the watchtower and barbed wire stand for captivity, and the motto beneath reads YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN.
Is it okay to fly the POW-MIA flag?
Yes. Any private citizen, business, or organization may fly it on any day. Federal law requires display at designated government properties on six named days and, following a later act, year round at many of those locations, but that is a minimum for federal sites rather than a limit on anyone else.
What is the POW-MIA flag controversy?
There has been public debate over the flag on two fronts, over whether government buildings should fly a flag other than the national flag alongside it, and over historical accounts of how the symbol was promoted during and after the Vietnam era. The flag remains federally recognized and widely flown, and the debate has not changed its legal standing.
What is the black flag that says Pow Mia?
That is the POW/MIA flag, created in the early 1970s for the National League of Families and formally recognized by Congress in 1990. The black and white design is not a mourning flag or a unit flag; it is a national symbol for prisoners of war and the missing.
