Is flag burning illegal in the United States?
Legal / protected speech
US Supreme Court ruled flag desecration protected as symbolic speech under the First Amendment.
The United States 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
- Mexico
- Criminal offense Desecration of the Mexican national flag is a crime punishable by imprisonment or fines.
- Jamaica
- Legal / protected speech Flag desecration is legal in Jamaica, with evidence of flag burning being accepted as part of protocol for torn flags.
- Dominican Republic
- Criminal offense Desecrating the national flag in the Dominican Republic is punishable by 1 to 3 months imprisonment.
- Aruba
- Criminal offense Desecrating the Aruban flag is illegal with penalties of up to two months imprisonment or fine.
- Curaçao
- Criminal offense It is illegal to intentionally damage the flag with penalties of up to two months in prison or a fine.
- Venezuela
- Legal / protected speech Flag desecration is legally protected as a symbol of protest against government actions, despite official condemnation.
Other laws in United States
- Blasphemy Laws
- Criminal offense
- Apostasy Laws
- Legal
- Holocaust Denial
- No specific law
- Conversion Therapy
- Partial ban
Every law in the United States → · 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.