POW/MIA Flag Display

Photo courtesy DVA

Effective July 23, 2017, HB 1204, passed by the Washington state legislature, regarding the days to display the POW/MIA flag requires that:

"Each public entity must display the national league of families' POW/MIA flag along with the flag of the United States and the flag of the state upon or near the principal building of the public entity…"

US flag, Washington state flag, POW/MIA flag
Photo courtesy DVA

A "public entity" as used in this legislation "means every state agency, including each institution of higher education, and every county, city, and town."

The flag must be displayed on the following dates:

• March 30 (Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day) 
• April 9 (Former Prisoners of War Recognition Day) 
• Third Saturday in May (Armed Forces Day) 
• Last Monday in May (Memorial Day) 
• June 14 (Flag Day) 
• July 4 (Independence Day) 
• July 27 (National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day) 
• Third Friday in September (National POW/MIA Recognition Day) 
• November 11 (Veterans' Day) 
• December 7 (Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day) 

If the designed day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, then the POW/MIA flag must be displayed on the preceding Friday.

The Governor's Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee's website  provides information to public entities regarding the purchase and display of the POW/MIA flag.