INTRODUCTION

On August 25th, 2025, during a ceremony in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump stated: “All over the country they’re burning flags…through a very sad court…they called it freedom of speech…When you burn the American flag it incites riots…You burn a flag, you get one year in jail.” During this ceremony, President Trump signed an executive order that seeks to “prioritize the enforcement to the fullest extent possible of our Nation’s criminal and civil laws against acts of American Flag desecration” (The White House). President Trump’s announcement was not the first time that the federal government sought to curb the practice; in response to Vietnam War protests, Congress passed the Flag Protection Act of 1968 which outlawed “publicly mutilating, defacing, defiling, burning or trampling” the American flag (National Constitution Center).

However, since 1968, the Supreme Court has routinely struck down laws that prohibit burning the American flag. In 1989, the Court ruled in Texas v. Johnson that Gregory Lee Johnson’s “expressive conduct” of burning the American flag at the Republican National Convention in Dallas did not “disturb the peace” and was thereby protected by the 1st Amendment as political and symbolic speech. With the Court striking down the Texas state law that was used to prosecute Johnson, Congress then passed the Flag Protection Act of 1989. This “national anti-flag burning law” was then itself struck down by the Court in United States v. Eichman (1990). (National Constitution Center).

Still a contentious issue, Congress most recently sought to enshrine an anti-flag burning measure in the United States Constitution in 2006; the effort failed by “one vote” in the Senate (National Constitution Center). More recently, President Trump’s 2025 executive order seeks to limit flag burning another way, stating, “the Court has never held that American Flag desecration conducted in a manner that is likely to incite imminent lawless action or that is an action amounting to “fighting words” is constitutionally protected” (The White House).

So what should be done? This deliberation presents ten video clips, four articles, and numerous educational activities to guide students through a review of the debate over whether burning the American flag should be illegal. After a careful review of multiple perspectives, students will determine their answer to the question and be presented with several optional extensions to take an active role in the debate.

---

Objectives and Outcomes

• Students will be able to describe key vocabulary terms and concepts associated with the debate surrounding whether burning the American flag should be illegal.
  
  
• Students will be able to identify and explain aspects of the debate surrounding whether burning the American flag should be illegal, including those arguments related to Constitutional foundations, personal liberties, federalism, and patriotism, among others.
  
  
• Students will be able to evaluate arguments related to the debate surrounding whether burning the American flag should be illegal and formulate an opinion on this question.
  
  

---