Flag football rules, scoring and officiating
5v5, two 20-minute halves, four downs to midfield and no contact
5v5 flag football is played over two 20-minute halves on a 25-by-70-yard field with 10-yard end zones. A touchdown scores 6, the try after it 1 point from the 5-yard line or 2 from the 10, and a safety 2. The offence starts on its own 5-yard line with four downs to cross midfield and then four downs to score; failing either turns the ball over. The quarterback has seven seconds to pass or hand off, and there is no running in the five yards before the end zone.
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Flag Football Competition Formats & Officiating
Competition Formats
League play and tournamentsA 5v5 league game runs 40 minutes of continuous clock in two 20-minute halves with a five-minute halftime, two 30-second time-outs per team per half and a 30-second delay-of-game count every time the ball is spotted. The NFL FLAG rulebook recommends a pro clock, stopped on incompletions and out-of-bounds plays, for the last two minutes of each half at high-school level.
A 5v5 league game runs 40 minutes of continuous clock in two 20-minute halves with a five-minute halftime, two 30-second time-outs per team per half and a 30-second delay-of-game count every time the ball is spotted. The NFL FLAG rulebook recommends a pro clock, stopped on incompletions and out-of-bounds plays, for the last two minutes of each half at high-school level.
Tournament play shortens the day: junior divisions play two 15-minute halves with a two-minute halftime, with the clock settings left to the organiser. A mercy rule ends the game once a team leads by 30 points, and a forfeit is recorded as 30-0.
IFAF championships and the Olympic tournamentIFAF runs flag football for national teams under the same 5v5 rulebook: a biennial Flag Football World Championship, continental championships in Europe, the Americas and Asia-Oceania, and the flag football tournament at The World Games, played in Birmingham 2022 and Chengdu 2025.
IFAF runs flag football for national teams under the same 5v5 rulebook: a biennial Flag Football World Championship, continental championships in Europe, the Americas and Asia-Oceania, and the flag football tournament at The World Games, played in Birmingham 2022 and Chengdu 2025.
The IOC Session in Mumbai added flag football to the Los Angeles 2028 programme on 16 October 2023, as a men's and a women's tournament. In the IFAF playoff format, overtime is a series of sudden-death tries with each team getting an equal number of attempts, choosing a 1- or 2-point try each time; regular-season games have no overtime.
How Flag Football Is Officiated: the Crew's Toolkit
A 5v5 game is worked by a crew led by the referee, with a down judge who keeps count of the downs, a field judge and a side judge. The officials spot the ball where the runner's front foot was when the flag was pulled, award a new series of downs after a change of possession and administer the penalties.
Five things decide the score and the flow of the game.
- clock
- The clock — 2 × 20 minutes running, stopped for time-outs and injuries and, where the pro clock applies, for incompletions and out-of-bounds plays in the last two minutes of a half. Each team has two 30-second time-outs per half; none are granted in overtime.
- scoring
- Scoring values — touchdown 6 points; try after touchdown 1 point from the 5-yard line (pass only, because of the no-run zone) or 2 points from the 10-yard line, declared before the snap; safety 2 points. A defensive touchdown on a try scores 2, a safety on a try scores 1.
- downs
- Downs — the offence starts every possession on its own 5-yard line and has four downs to cross midfield. Once it does, it has four plays to score; crossing midfield is the only first down available in a single possession. Failing to cross midfield, or to score once past it, turns the ball over, and the new offence starts on its own 5-yard line. Interceptions are the only change of possession that can be returned.
- passClock
- The 7-second pass clock and the rusher — the quarterback has seven seconds from the snap to hand off or throw, or the play is dead and the down is lost. Defenders who line up seven yards off the line of scrimmage may rush; once the ball is handed off, everyone may cross the line.
- penalties
- Penalties and no-run zones — penalties are enforced in yards from the line of scrimmage, with some carrying an automatic first down or a loss of down. In the five yards before each end zone the offence cannot run the ball at all; every play there must be a pass.
The rulebook needs nothing more than a game clock and a crew; the down judge keeps the downs by hand. JudgeMate's free flag football scoreboard puts that count on a screen: one phone runs the two 20-minute halves, the touchdown, PAT 1, PAT 2 and safety buttons, a down counter that turns the ball over after a fourth down, a touchdown or a safety, two time-outs per half and a penalty note on the timeline. Spectators follow a link or a QR code. The board does not measure penalty yards and does not replace a sanctioned results system.
Frequently Asked Questions About Flag Football
Primary Sources
- Flag Football 5v5 High School Rulebook (USA Football, 2024) — USA Football / NFL FLAG
- 2025 IFAF Flag Football Overview — International Federation of American Football
More about Flag Football
4 sections · Flag football — football without the tackle · The Biggest Flag Football Competitions · Flag Football Equipment · The History of Flag Football
More about Flag Football
4 sections · Flag football — football without the tackle · The Biggest Flag Football Competitions · Flag Football Equipment · The History of Flag Football
Flag football — football without the tackle
Flag football keeps the shape of American football and removes the collision: a ball carrier is down when a defender pulls one of the flags from the belt, and there is no blocking, no tackling and no kicking. The format that has become the international standard is 5v5, written by USA Football for the NFL FLAG programme and adopted by the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) for its world and continental championships.
A game is two halves of 20 minutes on a running clock that stops only for time-outs and injuries, with officials announcing the last two minutes of each half. Every drive starts on the offence's own 5-yard line with four downs to cross midfield; crossing it is the only first down a possession can earn, and the offence then has four more downs to score.
Scoring has three sizes. A touchdown is 6, the try after it is 1 point from the 5-yard line or 2 from the 10, and a safety is 2. The same frame runs youth leagues on a Saturday morning and the IFAF Flag Football World Championship, which is why one scoreboard can serve both.
The Biggest Flag Football Competitions
Flag football's calendar runs from youth leagues to an Olympic tournament, and the same 5v5 rulebook covers all of it.
Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games
Flag football joins the Olympic programme at **Los Angeles 2028** as a men's and a women's 5v5 tournament, a decision taken by the IOC Session in Mumbai on 16 October 2023. It is the first time any form of American football is contested for Olympic medals.
IFAF Flag Football World Championship
The biennial world championship for national teams in men's and women's divisions, played under IFAF's 5v5 rules. The 2024 edition was held in **Lahti, Finland**, with the United States, Mexico and Austria among the regular medal contenders.
The World Games
Flag football was played at **The World Games 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama**, and again at **Chengdu 2025**, giving the sport a multi-sport showcase ahead of its Olympic debut.
NFL FLAG Championships
The NFL's youth and high-school programme, run with USA Football, is the largest 5v5 competition system in the world. Regional tournaments feed the **NFL FLAG Championships**, played on the same 2 × 20-minute, four-downs-to-midfield rulebook as the international game.
Flag Football Equipment
Flag football needs a ball, a belt with flags and a mouthguard, but the rulebook sets specifications for each because the equipment defines when a runner is down.
Belt and flags
Each player wears a belt with flags in a colour different from the uniform. The NFL FLAG rulebook sets a minimum flag weight of 3.5 ounces (100 g) and a maximum thickness of 0.03 inches (0.75 mm), and an equipment check of flags, footwear, jewellery and headgear takes place before every game.
The ball
Ball sizes follow the age group: IFAF prescribes a K2 ball for under-10 and under-12 divisions, a junior ball (TDJ) from under-14 and a youth ball (TDY) for under-16 and older. Jerseys are tucked in and shorts have no pockets, so nothing but the flag can be grabbed.
The field
A 5v5 field is 25 by 70 yards in total: a 50-yard field of play and two 10-yard end zones, with a no-run zone in the five yards before each goal line. Smaller fields are allowed where space is limited, and the no-run zones are the only markings the rules insist on.
The History of Flag Football
From military bases to recreation leagues
Flag football grew out of the touch football played on United States military bases in the 1940s, where service members wanted the game without the injuries. Replacing the touch with a pulled flag gave officials a clear signal that the runner was down, and recreation leagues across North America adopted the belt and flags through the following decades.
5v5 becomes the standard
The 5v5 no-contact format — no blocking, no kicking, every drive from the 5-yard line, four downs to midfield — was written by USA Football for the NFL FLAG programme and spread with it. Its short field, 7-second pass clock and no-run zones made the game fast and easy to officiate with a small crew, which is why IFAF chose the same rulebook for international play.
IFAF, The World Games and LA28
IFAF has run a Flag Football World Championship since the early 2000s and added the sport to The World Games in 2022. The IOC's decision of 16 October 2023 to include flag football at Los Angeles 2028 made it an Olympic sport, with the NFL supporting the campaign and the 2025 IFAF European and continental championships serving as the first steps of Olympic qualification.
Start a Free Flag Football Scoreboard
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