American flag rugby (AFR) is a mixed-gender, non-contact imitation of rugby union designed for American children entering grades K–9. The organization itself exists to provide free start up kits and support to any community looking to add a youth rugby program to their community. The program has received great praise in the USA including an article in Rugby magazine and a spot on Fox Sports Net. The initial program from Morris County has helped create various other programs start up and now encompasses thousands of kids and adults across America participating in the youth sport and starting up programs.

American flag rugby is divided up among four different levels based upon the grade level a child is entering. The four levels are:

Each division itself has a unique set of rules in recognition that there will be different ability levels between the various age groups. The game, while based on rugby union, is actually far more related to rugby sevens. Similarities are seen with the number of players on the field and the arrangement of the line-outs, scrums, and kick-offs. Like rugby union, games are played in halves but the halves are significantly reduced. The halves are the same for all four levels at 10 minutes each instead of 40 minutes each.

Tag rugby, flag rugby league or flag rugby, is a non-contact team game in which each player wears a belt that has two velcro tags attached to it, or shorts with velcro patches. The mode of play is based on rugby league with many similarities to touch football. Attacking players attempt to dodge, evade and pass a rugby ball while defenders attempt to prevent them scoring by "tagging" – pulling a velcro attached tag from the ball carrier, rather than a full contact tackle. Tag rugby is used in development and training by the rugby league community, but it is also used by the rugby union community as a development game / training alternative.

Tag rugby comes in several forms with OzTag and Mini Tag being some of the better known variations. Tag rugby has the highest participation levels in Ireland and Australia.

OzTag is a non-contact form of rugby league. The sport Tag originated from the United Kingdom created and developed by Nick Leonard. OzTag is a variation of that sport. St George Dragons halfback Perry Haddock, introduced the sport in Australia while coaching the 1992 St George Jersey Flegg side. Together with Chris Parkes, the two took the sport to fields across Australia. Today, it is played by over 100,000 players in organised leagues across the country.

The national flag of the United States of America, often simply referred to as the American flag, consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton (referred to specifically as the "union") bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars. The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 states of the United States of America and the 13 stripes represent the thirteen British colonies that declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain and became the first states in the Union. Nicknames for the flag include the "Stars and Stripes", "Old Glory", and "The Star-Spangled Banner" (also the name of the national anthem).

The modern meaning of the flag was forged in December 1860 when Major Robert Anderson, acting without orders, moved the US garrison from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, in defiance of the power of the new Confederate States of America. Adam Goodheart argues this was the opening move of the Civil War, and the flag was used throughout the North to symbolize American nationalism and rejection of secessionism.