diff --git a/internal/app/label_export_test.go b/internal/app/label_export_test.go
index 196fb9a0..dea509bc 100644
--- a/internal/app/label_export_test.go
+++ b/internal/app/label_export_test.go
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ func TestLabelExportReadsAllPagesAndPublishesOnlyCompleteFiles(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, []string{"1", "2", "3"}, pages)
 	data, err := os.ReadFile(output)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	require.Equal(t, "#ff0000 good first issue ;Help wanted\n#00ff00 bug ;\n", string(data))
+	require.Equal(t, "#ff0000 good first issue ;Help wanted\n#00ff00 bug\n", string(data))
 	require.NoError(t, os.Remove(output))
 	fail = true
 	require.Error(t, Execute(context.Background(), deps, args))
diff --git a/internal/app/labelfile.go b/internal/app/labelfile.go
index 81651b50..44b468a8 100644
--- a/internal/app/labelfile.go
+++ b/internal/app/labelfile.go
@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@ import (
 
 var labelColor = regexp.MustCompile(`^[0-9a-fA-F]{6}$`)
 
-// parseLabelFile reads "#color name ;description" rows, skipping blank and comment rows.
+// parseLabelFile reads "#color name ;description ;flags" rows, skipping blank and comment rows. The
+// description and the flags, a comma-separated list of exclusive and archived, are optional.
 func parseLabelFile(r io.Reader) ([]services.LabelOptions, error) {
 	var labels []services.LabelOptions
 	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(r)
@@ -43,6 +44,14 @@ func parseLabelRow(text string, line int) (services.LabelOptions, bool, error) {
 	raw := strings.TrimSpace(text)
 	parts := strings.SplitN(raw, ";", 2)
 	fields := strings.Fields(parts[0])
+	var exclusive, archived bool
+	if len(parts) == 2 {
+		if at := strings.LastIndex(parts[1], ";"); at >= 0 {
+			if flags, ok := labelFlags(parts[1][at+1:]); ok {
+				exclusive, archived, parts[1] = flags["exclusive"], flags["archived"], parts[1][:at]
+			}
+		}
+	}
 	// Rows start with an optional "#" before the color, as Gitea's label templates do.
 	if raw == "" || strings.HasPrefix(raw, "#") && !labelColor.MatchString(strings.TrimPrefix(fields[0], "#")) {
 		return services.LabelOptions{}, false, nil
@@ -57,15 +66,49 @@ func parseLabelRow(text string, line int) (services.LabelOptions, bool, error) {
 	if !labelColor.MatchString(color) {
 		return services.LabelOptions{}, false, clierr.Wrap(clierr.Usage, fmt.Errorf("invalid color on row %d", line))
 	}
-	return services.LabelOptions{Name: &name, Color: &color, Description: &description}, true, nil
+	label := services.LabelOptions{Name: &name, Color: &color, Description: &description}
+	if exclusive {
+		label.Exclusive = &exclusive
+	}
+	if archived {
+		label.Archived = &archived
+	}
+	return label, true, nil
+}
+
+// labelFlags parses the flags field of a label row, such as "exclusive,archived".
+func labelFlags(field string) (map[string]bool, bool) {
+	flags := map[string]bool{}
+	for flag := range strings.SplitSeq(field, ",") {
+		flag = strings.TrimSpace(flag)
+		if flag != "exclusive" && flag != "archived" {
+			return nil, false
+		}
+		flags[flag] = true
+	}
+	return flags, true
 }
 
 // formatLabel renders a label as a label file row, rejecting labels the row cannot reproduce.
 func formatLabel(label services.Label) (string, error) {
 	color := strings.TrimPrefix(label.Color, "#")
-	row := fmt.Sprintf("#%s %s ;%s", color, label.Name, label.Description)
+	row := fmt.Sprintf("#%s %s", color, label.Name)
+	var flags []string
+	if label.Exclusive {
+		flags = append(flags, "exclusive")
+	}
+	if label.Archived {
+		flags = append(flags, "archived")
+	}
+	if label.Description != "" || len(flags) > 0 {
+		row += " ;" + label.Description
+	}
+	if len(flags) > 0 {
+		row += " ;" + strings.Join(flags, ",")
+	}
 	parsed, ok, err := parseLabelRow(row, 1)
-	if err != nil || !ok || strings.ContainsAny(row, "\r\n") || *parsed.Name != label.Name || *parsed.Color != color || *parsed.Description != label.Description {
+	if err != nil || !ok || strings.ContainsAny(row, "\r\n") || *parsed.Name != label.Name || *parsed.Color != color ||
+		*parsed.Description != label.Description || (parsed.Exclusive != nil) != label.Exclusive || (parsed.Archived != nil) != label.Archived {
 		return "", errors.New("label cannot be represented in the import format; use label export --json to preserve its text")
 	}
 	return row + "\n", nil
diff --git a/internal/app/labelfile_test.go b/internal/app/labelfile_test.go
index 0d29f1e2..4a279134 100644
--- a/internal/app/labelfile_test.go
+++ b/internal/app/labelfile_test.go
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ func TestLabelFileRoundTrip(t *testing.T) {
 		{Name: "bug", Color: "ff0000", Description: "Something is broken"},
 		{Name: "kind/feature request", Color: "#00FF00", Description: "Wanted; maybe"},
 		{Name: "#hash", Color: "0000ff"},
+		{Name: "priority/high", Color: "7057ff", Exclusive: true},
+		{Name: "old", Color: "cccccc", Description: "Retired; kept", Exclusive: true, Archived: true},
+		{Name: "flag-like", Color: "cccccc", Description: "ends in;archived text"},
 	} {
 		row, err := formatLabel(label)
 		require.NoError(t, err, label.Name)
@@ -32,6 +35,19 @@ func TestLabelFileRoundTrip(t *testing.T) {
 		require.Equal(t, label.Name, *parsed[0].Name)
 		require.Equal(t, strings.TrimPrefix(label.Color, "#"), *parsed[0].Color)
 		require.Equal(t, label.Description, *parsed[0].Description)
+		require.Equal(t, label.Exclusive, parsed[0].Exclusive != nil && *parsed[0].Exclusive, row)
+		require.Equal(t, label.Archived, parsed[0].Archived != nil && *parsed[0].Archived, row)
+	}
+	for label, row := range map[services.Label]string{
+		{Name: "good first issue", Color: "7057ff"}:                            "#7057ff good first issue\n",
+		{Name: "bug", Color: "ee0701", Description: "Broken"}:                  "#ee0701 bug ;Broken\n",
+		{Name: "priority/high", Color: "7057ff", Exclusive: true}:              "#7057ff priority/high ; ;exclusive\n",
+		{Name: "old", Color: "cccccc", Description: "Retired", Archived: true}: "#cccccc old ;Retired ;archived\n",
+		{Name: "both", Color: "cccccc", Exclusive: true, Archived: true}:       "#cccccc both ; ;exclusive,archived\n",
+	} {
+		formatted, err := formatLabel(label)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Equal(t, row, formatted)
 	}
 	for _, label := range []services.Label{
 		{Name: "", Color: "ff0000"},