POW MIA You Are Not Forgotten Black and White Patch

The silhouette, guard tower and barbed wire on this patch come from a design Newt Heisley drew in 1971, after Mary Hoff, whose husband Lt. Cmdr. Michael Hoff was missing in action, asked for a symbol for the National League of Families. Annin & Company produced the flag, and the League adopted it in January 1972. Above the figure it reads POW and MIA, and below it is the line every veteran knows: You Are Not Forgotten. It honors Americans held as prisoners of war and those still missing in action, and the families who wait for an accounting. This version renders it in black and white.

On March 9, 1989, a League flag that had flown over the White House during the 1988 National POW/MIA Recognition Day was installed in the Capitol rotunda, with leaders of both houses of Congress hosting the ceremony. On August 10, 1990, Public Law 101-355 recognized the flag as a symbol of the nation's concern and commitment to resolving the fates of Americans still unaccounted for. The National POW/MIA Flag Act, signed November 7, 2019, requires it to fly at listed federal sites, including the Capitol and the White House, on all days the U.S. flag is flown. Each of those steps came from families and veterans who kept asking.

This patch measures 3 inches wide by 4 inches tall, in a shield shape with a squared top and a pointed base. A white merrowed edge frames a black field. "POW" and "MIA" stand across the top in tall white letters split by a single star, over a light gray circle holding the black silhouette of a bowed head, a guard tower to the left and a curve of barbed wire beneath. "YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN" runs along the lower edge in white. It has an iron-on backing and can be sewn on for a permanent hold.

Behind every name on the missing list is a family that kept asking, and the National League of Families was built by wives and parents who would not let the question go. The flag gave them something to fly, and in time the country flew it with them. For veterans it is a promise among those who served that no one is left behind and no one is forgotten. The empty place setting at a veterans' dinner and the black flag beneath the Stars and Stripes say the same thing. This patch carries that promise in thread.

Wear it on a riding vest or jacket, or mount it in a shadow box beside a service photo or a set of dog tags. It is a meaningful gift for the family of someone still unaccounted for, or for a veteran who wants the reminder close. Some patches say where you served; this one says who you remember.