Is flag burning illegal in Samoa?
Criminal offense
Wilfully insulting the Samoan flag is punishable by fine or up to six months imprisonment.
Samoa 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
- New Zealand
- Legal / protected speech Flag desecration is legal due to constitutional protection of free expression, despite laws against dishonouring the flag.
- Japan
- Only foreign flags protected Only desecration of foreign flags is illegal in Japan, while the Japanese flag itself is constitutionally protected.
- Philippines
- Criminal offense It is illegal to mutilate, deface, or insult the flag with penalties including fines and imprisonment.
- Indonesia
- Criminal offense Destroying or defacing the Indonesian national flag is punishable by up to ten years imprisonment.
- Malaysia
- Criminal offense Flag desecration is illegal in Malaysia under the Penal Code, Sedition Act, and Emblems & Names Act.
- Taiwan
- Criminal offense Taiwan criminalizes insulting national flags or emblems with penalties up to one year imprisonment.
Other laws in Samoa
- Holocaust Denial
- No specific law
- Conversion Therapy
- Partial ban
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.