On Monday, August 25, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order prosecuting burning of the American Flag.
The order states that “[d]esecrating [the flag] is uniquely offensive and provocative,” and such an act is “the clearest possible expression of opposition to the political union that preserves our rights, liberty and security.” The order continues on to allege that burning the flag “may incite violence and riot.” Further, the order claims that flag burning “is also used by groups of foreign nationals as a calculated act to intimidate and threaten violence against Americans because of their nationality and place of birth.”
President Trump’s order specifically cites that the U.S. Supreme Court in Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989), “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 order seeks to “restore respect and sanctity to the American Flag and prosecute those who incite violence or otherwise violate our laws while desecrating this symbol of our country.” The executive order empowers the U.S. Attorney General to “prioritize the enforcement to the fullest extent possible of our Nation’s criminal and civil laws against acts of American Flag desecration that violate applicable content-neutral laws, while causing harm unrelated to expression, consistent with the First Amendment.”
The order itself does not detail specific punishments for flag burning. However, President Trump remarked while signing the order that “[y]ou burn a flag, you get one year in jail. You don’t get 10 years, you don’t get one month.” President Trump continued on to state that “[i]t goes on your record, and you will see flag burning stopping immediately.” The executive order attempts to prosecute flag burning in stark contrast to Texas v. Johnson, which holds that the First Amendment protections on symbolic speech prevent states from banning desecrations of the American flag.
Additional Reading
Trump signs executive order to prosecute US flag burning, JURISTnews (August 27, 2025)
Trump’s order on flag burning could return the question to the Supreme Court, The Associated Press (August 26, 2025)
Prosecuting Burning of the American Flag, The White House (August 25, 2025)
Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989)
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