National POW/MIA Recognition Day

Honoring Our POWs and MIAs

Each year on the third Friday of September, VFW Posts, military installations, and communities across Arizona and the nation pause to honor service members who were held as prisoners of war and those whose status remains missing in action, along with the families who continue to wait for answers. The POW/MIA flag is raised at Posts, government buildings, and military installations as a visible reminder that these veterans and their sacrifices have not been forgotten.

Department of Arizona Posts are encouraged to mark the day with flag ceremonies, remembrance tables, and joint observances alongside other veteran and civic organizations. Many Posts coordinate with local schools and city or county officials to display POW/MIA recognition materials and to keep the public informed about the ongoing accounting effort for those still missing.

A National Observance

National POW/MIA Recognition Day is not a federal holiday, but it is formally proclaimed by the President of the United States each year, with many state governors issuing matching proclamations. It stands alongside Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, and Veterans Day as one of the days when the POW/MIA flag may be flown at federal installations, national cemeteries, and the U.S. Capitol.

Background

Congress first authorized a national day of recognition in 1979. The observance moved between several dates in its early years before settling permanently on the third Friday of September beginning in 1986. The day continues to call attention to the accounting effort for Americans still unaccounted for from past conflicts, the large majority of whom were lost in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia during the Vietnam War.

The POW/MIA Flag

The National League of Families' POW/MIA flag was designed by Newt Heisley. Its silhouette — a gaunt young man set against a watchtower and a strand of barbed wire — was inspired by Heisley's own son, who had returned home from military service in poor health. The flag carries the words "POW" and "MIA," and beneath the central emblem reads the flag's enduring motto: You Are Not Forgotten.

Watch

The DPAA is the federal agency responsible for the fullest possible accounting of missing U.S. personnel from past conflicts.