Is flag burning illegal in the Netherlands?
Legal / protected speech
Flag desecration is legal in the Netherlands due to freedom of expression protections.
The Netherlands is one of 11 countries classified “Legal / protected speech” for flag desecration — 16% 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
- Belgium
- Legal / protected speech Flag desecration is legal in Belgium with no criminal penalties.
- Germany
- Criminal offense Desecrating the German flag or foreign flags is illegal and punishable by imprisonment or fines.
- Denmark
- Legal / protected speech It is legal to burn or desecrate the Danish national flag, but not foreign flags.
- France
- Criminal offense Desecrating the French national flag in public places is illegal with fines and imprisonment.
- United Kingdom
- Legal / protected speech The UK does not have specific flag desecration laws; it's legal to burn flags.
- Switzerland
- Criminal offense Switzerland punishes destruction of national emblems but not private flags.
Other laws in Netherlands
- Blasphemy Laws
- No blasphemy law
- Apostasy Laws
- Legal
- Holocaust Denial
- Criminal offense
- Conversion Therapy
- Partial ban
Every law in the Netherlands → · 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.