Is flag burning illegal in France?
Criminal offense
Desecrating the French national flag in public places is illegal with fines and imprisonment.
France is one of 53 countries classified “Criminal offense” for flag desecration — 79% of the 67 with data. (Also searched as flag burning.)
Source
- Taken from
- Wikipedia: Flag desecration
- Last checked
- 7 July 2026
- How it was classified
- Classified by a language model from the source text, then checked against hand-verified reference countries.
Nearby countries
- Switzerland
- Criminal offense Switzerland punishes destruction of national emblems but not private flags.
- Belgium
- Legal / protected speech Flag desecration is legal in Belgium with no criminal penalties.
- Netherlands
- Legal / protected speech Flag desecration is legal in the Netherlands due to freedom of expression protections.
- Germany
- Criminal offense Desecrating the German flag or foreign flags is illegal and punishable by imprisonment or fines.
- Austria
- Criminal offense Flag desecration is illegal in Austria with imprisonment terms of up to 6 months.
- Italy
- Criminal offense Desecrating any national flag is illegal and punishable by fines or imprisonment.
Other laws in France
- Blasphemy Laws
- No blasphemy law
- Holocaust Denial
- Criminal offense
- Conversion Therapy
- Banned
Every law in France → · Where is burning the flag illegal? →
A visual reference compiled from Wikipedia’s law-by-country articles, not legal advice. Laws change and summaries simplify — check a primary source before relying on anything here.