Commemoration of those who were held as prisoners of war and those who are still missing. POW is the English abbreviation for "Prisoners of War" and MIA for "Missing in Action". The flag was created in 1971 by the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia. The flag commemorates American prisoners of war and missing persons. Designed by Newton Heisley, a former World War II fighter pilot, the black and white flag shows the silhouette of a lowered head against the background of a barbed wire and a watchtower. In addition to the lettering "POW + MIA" it contains the sentence "You are not forgotten". The flag, originally designed on the basis of the missing US soldiers of the Vietnam War, today commemorates all Americans missing in wars since World War II, more than 88,000 people in all. In 1988 the POW/MIA flag flew over the White House for the first time, since 1989 continuously on the rotunda of the Capitol. Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress has legislated for the official use of the flag, and it is now flown on six national holidays (Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Veterans Day and on the third Friday in September, National POW/MIA Day) at all post offices, the Capitol, the White House, national cemeteries, military bases and all Korean and Vietnam War memorials. The POW/MIA flag also flies permanently on the summit of Mount POW/MIA in Alaska, where it is replaced by a new one each year on Memorial Day. The search for prisoners of war and missing soldiers is the responsibility of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, a working group of the United States Department of Defense.
