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Patriot's Pen

VFW Patriot's Pen Youth Essay Contest

A short patriotic essay contest for middle school students, free, with national awards.

Run by Veterans of Foreign Wars

Official website Reviews and tips

Key facts

Eligible grades
Grades 6, 7 and 8, enrolled by the 31 October deadline in public, private or parochial schools in the US, its territories or possessions, or dependents of US military or civilian personnel in overseas schools. Home-schooled students are eligible.
Source, checked 2026-09-02
Eligible ages
Not confirmed. This organiser may set eligibility by grade rather than age. We do not convert one into the other.
The VFW sets eligibility by grade, not age. Adults are not eligible.
Individual or team
Individual
Where it runs
Online and in person · United States
Entry cost
FreeNo entry fee at any level.
Registration deadline
All entries must be submitted to a sponsoring VFW Post by midnight on 31 October 2026. 52 days leftYou submit to a local Post, not to the VFW nationally, so find a participating Post first. Posts may set earlier internal cut-offs.
Competition dates
Entries in autumn, judging through winter, national awards in spring.
Difficulty
Open to beginnersNo prior competition experience assumed. If you can do the school-level material, you can enter and score points.
Prizes
Prizes and scholarships are awarded at Post, District, State and national level. Department (state) winners receive a portion of $55,000 in national awards. National winners receive at least $500, and the first-place national award is currently $5,000.Awards at post, district, state and national level, with the national first place historically in the thousands of dollars. Confirm current amounts with the VFW.

What Patriot's Pen is

Patriot's Pen is the middle school companion to the VFW's Voice of Democracy contest. Students in grades 6 to 8 write a short essay of 300 to 400 words responding to an annual patriotic theme. Entries are judged from local VFW post level upward through district and state to a national final, and it is free to enter with substantial awards at national level.

How the competition works

A typed English essay of 300 to 400 words, with a 5-word tolerance either way. Every word counts regardless of length; the title and any footnotes do not. No colour or graphics. Do not put your name on the essay: the entry form is the cover sheet, fastened on top. Avoid personal identifiers and references to your race, sex, religion or national origin, though general references to American identity relevant to the theme are permitted. Judging is knowledge of the theme 30 points, theme development 35 points, clarity of ideas 35 points. Students are judged on the essay alone with no oral presentation. The essay must be the contestant's own work and the rules state that inappropriate use of ChatGPT or other AI tools is not allowed. One entry per student per year.

Eligibility notes

Open to students in the United States and dependents of US military personnel overseas. You must submit through a participating local post.

Is Patriot's Pen right for you?

Experience needed
None. This is a genuine first writing competition for middle school students.
Time commitment
A few hours.
What you actually do
You write one short essay on a set theme and hand it to a local organisation. There is no presentation and no travel unless you advance far.

A good fit if

  • You are in middle school and want a free writing competition
  • You want something achievable in an afternoon
  • You like writing about ideas rather than fiction

Probably not for you if

  • High school students, who should enter Voice of Democracy instead

Compare this against competitions matched to you

Common mistakes

  • Exceeding the word limit, which is strict and results in disqualification.
  • Writing generally about patriotism rather than answering the specific theme.
  • Submitting to the national organisation rather than a local post, which is the only accepted route.

How to register

  1. Find a participating VFW post near you using the post locator on the VFW site.
  2. Read the year's theme, which is announced in advance.
  3. Write an essay of 300 to 400 words. The word limit is strict.
  4. Submit the essay and entry form to the local post by the deadline.

Register on the official site

What skills you need

  • Persuasive writing
  • Writing to a tight word limit
  • Developing one idea clearly

Recommended resources

Past problems and materials

Only materials the organiser or an authorised archive publishes openly are listed here.

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from Voice of Democracy?

Patriot's Pen is for grades 6 to 8 and is a written essay of 300 to 400 words. Voice of Democracy is for grades 9 to 12 and is an audio-recorded essay of three to five minutes. Both run through local VFW posts on the same autumn timeline.

Reviews, tips and resources from other students

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