Is flag burning illegal in Germany?
Criminal offense
Desecrating the German flag or foreign flags is illegal and punishable by imprisonment or fines.
Germany 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
- Netherlands
- Legal / protected speech Flag desecration is legal in the Netherlands due to freedom of expression protections.
- Austria
- Criminal offense Flag desecration is illegal in Austria with imprisonment terms of up to 6 months.
- Belgium
- Legal / protected speech Flag desecration is legal in Belgium with no criminal penalties.
- Switzerland
- Criminal offense Switzerland punishes destruction of national emblems but not private flags.
- Denmark
- Legal / protected speech It is legal to burn or desecrate the Danish national flag, but not foreign flags.
- Slovenia
- Criminal offense Desecrating national symbols in Slovenia is a criminal offense punishable by up to one year imprisonment.
Other laws in Germany
- Blasphemy Laws
- Criminal offense
- Holocaust Denial
- Criminal offense
- Conversion Therapy
- Banned
Every law in Germany → · 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.