WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump signed an executive order Aug. 25 seeking to penalize people who burn flags, although courts have long upheld the practice as legitimate expression under the First Amendment.
The order aims to prosecute people who burn flags associated with other violence, such as inciting a riot, Trump said.
“If you burn a flag, you get one year in jail,” Trump said. “You will see flag burning stop immediately.”
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The First Amendment protects speech and peaceful protest. The Supreme Court in 1989 ruled in a 5-4 decision that burning a flag itself is a form of political expression and isn’t illegal.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Trump’s goal of prosecuting flag-burning could be accomplished without violating the high court’s decision.
“We will do that without running afoul of the First Amendment,” Bondi said.
Trump’s order comes amid a year of celebration leading to the country’s 250th birthday on July 4, 2026. Trump mentioned seeking a penalty for flag burning while visiting Fort Bragg in North Carolina on June 10 as part of the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary.
“People that burn the American flag should go to jail for one year, that’s what they should be doing, one year,” Trump said after sometimes violent protests in Los Angeles against immigration enforcement.
Trump has previously called for a one-year penalty for flag-burning, including during a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June 2020, during the presidential campaign. He was photographed hugging a flag at the Conservative Political Action Conference in March 2019.
Flags are occasionally burned during protests in front of the White House, including in 2019.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump executive order gives one-year jail terms for flag burning
