Memorial Day is synonymous with the American flag. U.S. Flags on graves, U.S. flags in parades, U.S. flags on home flagpoles.
Yet, there is another flag that The Flag Factory customers associate with Memorial Day; its the POW/MIA flag.
It’s meaning is not just the obvious, but people use it to say we remember those who serve and have served, those
who returned and those who never returned.
The flag was first conceived in 1971 by Mrs. Michael Hoff a member of the National League of Families . Her husband
was missing in action and she decided to find a way to honor him and others in similar situations. Mrs. Hoff
contacted Annin, a U.S. flagmaker in the business of making flags in the U.S.A. since 1847. Mr. Norman Rivkees, an
Annin vice president, and an advertising agency designed the flag.
The flag design was approved by the National League of Families. The 105th U.S. Congress passed an authorization
act stating the the League’s POW/MIA should be flown at National Cemeteries, War Memorials, The White House,
Military Installations, and the offices of the Secretaries of State, Defense, and Veterans affairs on POW/MIA Recognition Day, which is the third Friday in September.
