Why is it legal to burn the American flag in the US?

It was shortly before the Fourth of July in 1989—two centuries after the Constitution of the United States took effect—when the Supreme Court declared that the government could not stop citizens from desecrating the nation's flag. read more

But the legislative branch struck first and passed the Flag Protection Act of 1989, which made it criminal to desecrate the flag, regardless of motive. Protesters responded quickly by burning flags, in an attempt to get the issue back to the Supreme Court. Almost exactly a year after Texas v. Johnson, their wish came true. In United States v. read more

Thus, burning of the American flag had been illegal until 1969 when the Supreme Court ruled the decision to award the First Amendment protection to the burning of the flag. Furthermore, in a few court cases it has been declared that it is only illegal to burn the US flag if the flag would be stolen. read more

This Is Why It's Legal to Burn the American Flag. It was shortly before the Fourth of July in 1989—two centuries after the Constitution of the United States took effect—when the Supreme Court declared that the government could not stop citizens from desecrating the nation's flag. read more

Burning the flag as a political protest is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. The U.S. Supreme court made that ruling in 1989 in the case Texas v. Johnson. read more

The act is considered offensive by many, but flag burning is legal in the U.S. under Supreme Court rulings that it is constitutionally protected speech under the First Amendment. It was not clear what sparked Trump's tweet, but it comes after a college in Massachusetts took down an American flag on campus during protests of Trump’s victory after a previous flag burning incident. read more