Soldiers Place Flags at 260,000 Graves at Arlington Ahead of Memorial Day

A soldier places a small American flag at a headstone during the annual Flags-In ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Arlington, Va. More than 1,000 service members placed flags at approximately 260,000 graves ahead of Memorial Day. (Photo/Anthony Quintano)

ARLINGTON, Va. — Before most of Washington woke up, more than 1,000 soldiers were already at work.

In the rain and early morning darkness of May 22, 2025, service members from the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as "The Old Guard," fanned out across Arlington National Cemetery. Their mission was simple but significant. Place a small American flag at every headstone before Memorial Day weekend.

A soldier places a small American flag at a headstone during the annual Flags-In ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Arlington, Va. More than 1,000 service members placed flags at approximately 260,000 graves in under four hours ahead of Memorial Day. (Photo/Anthony Quintano)

They had four hours to do it.

Soldiers carried bundles of flags on their backs and in their hands, moving row by row through the cemetery's rolling hills. Some worked alone. Others worked in pairs. By the time they were done, flags stood at approximately 260,000 headstones and 7,000 niche rows in the cemetery's Columbarium Courts.

The annual ceremony, known as Flags-In, is a tradition carried out each year in the days before Memorial Day. It is one of the most visible ways the military honors those buried at Arlington, the country's most recognized national cemetery.

Joint service members from the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Coast Guard participated alongside Army soldiers.

The flags will remain at each grave through Memorial Day.