The flame retardant mechanism of the copolyester phosphorus containing linked pendant groups was investigated by thermogravimetric (TG), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and direct insertion probe pyrolysis mass spectrometry (DP-MS) technique. TG results show that the incorporation of phosphorus containing unit linked pendant groups can destabilize the copolyester due to the cleavage of P-CH2 bond, and phosphorus containing units cannot promote the char-formation of the copolyester during the thermal degradation of the copolyester. XPS spectra indicate that with the increase of the temperature, the P-CH2 bonds of the copolyester break down gradually, the concentration of phosphorus in the condensed phase products decrease gradually and the chemical state of phosphorus does not change in the temperature of 250-380℃. Direct pyrolysis MS suggests that the P-CH2 bonds cleavage occurs at pendant groups and species containing phosphorus can volatilize into the gas phase. A flame retardant mechanism is proposed for the gas phase mode of action of the halogen-free copolyester phosphorus containing linked pendant groups.