Rules for Capture the Flag (Non-contact, Non-running Version)

  1. Players are divided into two teams. Each team has its own territory. The territories are separated by a boundary line, such as a paved path. Any player crossing this line may be captured by the opposing team. Each team is given a flag (a piece of cloth approximately 1 foot square) which is initially placed on a spot in the team’s territory by the referee. A spot on each team’s territory is indicated to be that team’s “prison”.
  2. The teams assemble close together at a starting point near the center of the line, each team in its own territory. On a signal from the referee the game begins. The object now is to enter the opposing team’s territory, capture the flag, and carry it across the line into home territory without being caught. A flag can only be touched by a member of the opposing team.
  3. A player is caught if he or she is on the opposing team’s territory, and two or more opposing players simultaneously point to the player and say “Caught!” The two opposing players must be within 10 feet of the player being caught. If the caught player is carrying the flag, the flag is dropped in place.
  4. When a player is captured, he or she must go with one of the captors to the capturing team’s prison. A prisoner may be released from prison if two or more members of his or her team approach within 10 feet of the prison, point to the prisoner, and simultaneously say “Free!” If this occurs, all three team members then walk back to their own territory, and may not be caught while so doing.
  5. The game ends when either 15 minutes elapse, or when one team carries the opposing team’s flag into its own territory.
  6. A player may not touch another player.
  7. Players may walk quickly, but may not run. The definition of walking is that at all times at least one of the player’s feet is in contact with the ground, and the advancing leg must be straight (i.e., not bent at the knee) from the moment of first contact with the ground until in the vertical upright position.