USA Flag 7's penalties
USA Flag 7's penalty sizes match USA Flag 5's. Most fouls are 5 or 10 yards. Contact fouls like holding and pass interference are 10. Offensive fouls often cost a down.
More players means more bumping. Teach your 7v7 team which contact costs 10 yards.
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Updated · cited to the official rulebooks · Compare every ruleset
How penalties work here
Most penalties are marked from the line of scrimmage. Spot fouls are marked from where they happened. A penalty can't go more than half the way to the goal line. A game can't end on a defensive foul unless the offense turns it down.
The fouls
Foul names are ours, in plain words. Each one cites the rule to check. The rest of the USA Flag 7's rules
- Flag guarding (shielding your own flags)By the offense
5 yardsLoss of down
Walked off from where the foul happened. Leaving the feet to dodge a flag pull counts as flag guarding (R4-2-4b).
- Pass interference by the defenseBy the defense
10 yardsAutomatic first down
Walked off from the line of scrimmage.
- Pass interference by the offenseBy the offense
10 yardsLoss of down
Walked off from the line of scrimmage.
- Holding by the defenseBy the defense
10 yardsAutomatic first down
Walked off from where the foul happened.
- Blocking, holding or running alongside the ball carrierBy the offense
10 yardsLoss of down
Walked off from where the foul happened.
- Charging (running into a set defender)By the offense
10 yardsLoss of down
Walked off from where the foul happened.
- Stripping (pulling the ball from the carrier)By the defense
10 yardsAutomatic first down
Walked off from where the foul happened.
- Flag pull on a receiver who has not caught the ball yetBy the defense
5 yards
Walked off from where the foul happened.
- Illegal equipmentBy the offense or defense
5 yards
Walked off from where the foul happened. Repeat offenses can become unsportsmanlike conduct, up to ejection.
- Intentional grounding (an illegal throwaway)By the offense
5 yardsLoss of down
Walked off from where the foul happened.
- Offside by the defenseBy the defense
5 yards
Walked off from the line of scrimmage. The penalty table gives 5 yards with no first down. But the blitzer rule (R4-5-3b) gives 5 yards and a first down for the same foul.
- Offside or false start by the offenseBy the offense
5 yards
Walked off from the line of scrimmage.
- More than 1 player moving at the snapBy the offense
5 yardsLoss of down
Walked off from the line of scrimmage.
- Delay of gameBy the offense or defense
5 yards
Walked off from the line of scrimmage. Teams get one warning first unless a play clock is visible (R2-1-3).
- Bad forward pass (caught or landing behind the line, or thrown from past it)By the offense
5 yardsLoss of down
Walked off from the line of scrimmage.
- Handing off to the center (center sneak)By the offense
5 yardsLoss of down
Walked off from the line of scrimmage.
- Illegal backward passBy the offense
5 yardsLoss of down
Walked off from the line of scrimmage.
- Rushing from too close (inside the 7-yard rush line) or too earlyBy the defense
5 yards
Walked off from the line of scrimmage. The penalty table gives 5 yards with no first down. But the blitzer rule (R4-5-3b) gives 5 yards and a first down.
- Bad blitzer signal (hand up inside 7 yards, or more than 2 hands up)By the defense
5 yards
Walked off from the line of scrimmage.
- Blocking a blitzer's pathBy the offense
5 yardsLoss of down
Walked off from the line of scrimmage.
- Roughing the passerBy the defense
10 yardsAutomatic first down
Walked off from the line of scrimmage. If the pass is caught, the offense can choose to mark the yards off from where the play ended.
- Rough play (unnecessary roughness) by the defenseBy the defense
10 yardsAutomatic first down
Walked off from where the play ended.
- Rough play (unnecessary roughness) by the offenseBy the offense
10 yardsLoss of down
Walked off from the line of scrimmage.
- Unsportsmanlike conduct or taunting by the defenseBy the defense
10 yardsAutomatic first down
Walked off from where the play ended. R4-9-5 marks it from the line of scrimmage instead.
- Unsportsmanlike conduct or taunting by the offenseBy the offense
10 yards
Walked off from where the play ended. The penalty table adds no loss of down. But R4-9-5 marks 10 yards from the line and takes the down.
Stat it in BreakAway
From 5v5 and 7v7 to NFL FLAG and your own house rules, if you play it, BreakAway can stat it. See how rulesets work
- BreakAway U lesson · 0:32Logging a penaltyThrow the flag
- BreakAway U lesson · 0:37Flagging the last playAttach a flag to a play
- BreakAway U guideHow to stat a flag football game
Who it's for
- Leagues & Tournaments: Run the event on one system
In the glossary
Pick your ruleset. Stat the game.
Start from a curated list of presets. Change any rule for your team, league or tournament. Field and downs, how the game's organized, scoring, punts and turnovers, overtime. Saved to your team for the next game. Tap to use it and you're ready to stat. Real stats, generated as you go.
A completed pass, logged in seconds.
Questions.
10 yards, and the offense loses the down.
Related rules
- USA Flag 5's penalties
- Flag football penalties
- NFL FLAG penalties
- High school flag football penalties
- IFAF flag football penalties
- College flag football penalties
- Every rule, every ruleset, side by side
Official rulebooks
- USA Flag 7's Rulebookv2026.2. Free from the publisher.
Sources cited on this page
- USA Flag 7's Rulebook (USA Flag 7's, v2026.2)