Noncommutative Enumeration in Graded Posets

We define a noncommutative algebra of flag-enumeration functionals on graded posets and show it to be isomorphic to the free associative algebra on countably many generators. Restricted to Eulerian posets, this ring has a particularly appealing presentation with kernel generated by Euler relations. A consequence is that even on Eulerian posets, the algebra is free, with generators corresponding to odd jumps in flags. In this context, the coefficients of the cd-index provide a graded basis.