2025-26 Patriot’s Pen Theme:

How Are You Showing Patriotism and Support for Our Country?

Student Entry Deadline: October 31, 2025
Patriotic Essay Writing Contest Grand Prize: $5,000 Award

VFW Post 1760 of Mesa, Arizona is an active sponsor for the Patriot’s Pen annual competition. Conducted nationwide, this VFW sponsored youth essay competition gives students an opportunity to write essays expressing their views on democracy with the prospect of winning money for college. We extend an open invitation to join more than 60,600 students who participated in last year’s contest.

Patriot’s Pen gives 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students the opportunity to express their opinion on a patriotic theme and improve their writing skills while they compete for awards and prizes. The National Association of Secondary School Principals has placed this program on their National Advisory List of Contests for participation.

*VFW Post 1760 gives a certificate award & financial award for the top 3 finishers in voting.

2025-26 Patriot’s Pen theme:

” How Are You Showing Patriotism and Support for Our Country? “

The contest is open to all students in the 6th, 7th and 8th grades in public, private, parochial schools, as well as, home-schooled children in the United States and its territories or its possessions and dependents of U.S. military or civilian personnel in overseas schools. Former first place state winners are not eligible to compete again. Foreign exchange students and adults are not eligible to compete.
Although U.S. citizenship is not required, students must be lawful U.S. permanent residents or have applied for permanent residence (the application cannot have been denied) and intends to become a U.S. citizen at the earliest opportunity allowed by law. Brochures on the program were mailed to all Post Commanders and Auxiliary Presidents. Schools should be contacted as soon as they open for the current year in order that the teachers can include the contest in the lesson plans. Posts are responsible for giving their area schools Patriot’s Pen pamphlets.

ESSAY RULES AND GUIDELINES:

• Student must write their own essay.
• All essays should be typed in English with no color or graphics. 300 – 400 words in length (+ or – 5 word max). Every word is counted regardless of length. The essay title (theme) or added footnotes do not contribute to the word count.
• To ensure fairness and impartiality in judging, essays must be anonymous. Do not include student’s name, address, school name, or any other personal identifiers in the body of essay. Additionally, avoid references to race, sex, religion, national origin, or other specific personal characteristics that could reveal student’s identity. General references to nationality or patriotic identity (such as being an American or referencing American values) are permitted if they are relevant to the essay theme. However, personal identifiers tied to individual background or experience should be avoided.
• Do not put student’s name on the essay. The entry form is the essay’s cover sheet. Secure the Official Student Entry Form with a staple or other fastener on top of submitted essay. Contestants are allowed to enter only once each year if otherwise eligible (one Post competition).
• The essay must be contestant’s original work and a product of the contestant’s own thinking. Inappropriate use of ChatGPT or other AI tools is not allowed. The approach to the Patriot’s Pen theme should be positive and clearly focused. Poetry is not acceptable. Quotations may be used sparingly if plainly identified wherever used. A contestant’s teacher, counselor or parent may check the essay for punctuation, grammar and/or spelling, but the content must remain the contestant’s. Contestants will be judged on the basis of their essay alone and are not required to present the essay orally. All essays become the property of the Veteran’s of Foreign Wars. The VFW retains non-exclusive rights to the use of your essay and likeness in the promotion and execution of the organization’s programs and activities. •At any time during the contest additional participant personal information (i.e. SSN, photo, etc.) could be requested by the VFW.

Download the 2025-26 Patriot’s Pen rules & entry form application

All student entries must be submitted to a sponsoring local VFW Post by midnight, Oct. 31.

More information on VFW’s National website > Youth Scholarships

Deadlines for program: