Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing federal prosecutors to seek criminal charges against people who burn the American flag during protests, in a move that challenges a long-standing supreme court ruling protecting the act as free speech.
The order instructs the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, to examine incidents of flag burning and determine whether individuals can be prosecuted under existing laws, such as disturbing the peace or environmental violations.
It marks an attempt to sidestep the 1989 supreme court decision in Texas v Johnson, which struck down flag-burning bans in 48 states.
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The court ruled by a 5-4 majority that destroying the flag is a form of political expression protected under the first amendment.
“All over the country they’re burning flags,” Trump said in the Oval Office as he signed the order on Monday.
“All over the world they burn the American flag, and as you know, through a very sad court, I guess it was a 5-4 decision, they called it freedom of speech.”
Trump also declared: “You burn a flag, you get one year in jail.”
However, the order does not contain provisions for a custodial sentence.
Public opinion appears to lean in Trump’s favour.
A YouGov poll in 2020 found nearly half of Americans supported making flag burning illegal, compared with around one-third who considered it permissible.
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An updated survey in September 2023 showed 59% of respondents believed burning the flag during protests was “always unacceptable”.
