National POW/MIA Recognition Day, established by Congress in 1988, honors prisoners of war (POWs) and those still missing in action (MIA). It is observed on the third Friday of September. In 1990, Congress designated the POW/MIA flag as “the symbol of our Nation’s concern and commitment to resolving as fully as possible the fates of Americans still prisoner, missing and unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.”
The United States Navy hosts a wreath-laying ceremony annually on National POW/MIA Recognition Day at the Navy Memorial. The Navy Memorial flies the POW/MIA flag 24-hours-a-day, every day of the year.