by Ken Bradford

Created on: October 15, 2008

The concern for protecting our American flag and the debate over flag desecration has been going on since the end of the Civil War.

It became such an issue of concern that 48 states passed laws making flag desecration illegal. Most of these state statutes made it illegal to deface our American flag in any way, using the flag for advertising purposes, publicly burning, spitting on, or otherwise showing disrespect for the flag.

In 1907 our U. S. Supreme Court upheld these state laws with an 8 to 1 ruling in a case where a Nebraska bottling company owner sold a bottle of beer with the American flag printed on the label. The decision of the Supreme Court reads, in part:

"For that flag every true American has not simply an appreciation, but a deep affection. No American, nor any foreign-born person who enjoys the privileges of American citizenship, ever looks upon it without taking pride in the fact that he lives under this free government."
(Source: U. S. Supreme Court - Halter v. Nebraska)

In 1968, our U. S. Congress passed the "Federal Flag Desecration Law" in response to a flag burning incident in protest of the Viet Nam war.

So, up until 1968 our American flag was highly respected, appreciated and protected, but that was soon to change.

In 1969, our U. S. Supreme Court overturned a man's conviction of burning the American flag in a civil rights protest. Justice Harlan in writing for the Court said:

"We have no doubt that the constitutionally guaranteed "freedom to be intellectually ... diverse or even contrary," and the "right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order," encompass the freedom to express publicly one's opinions about our flag, including those opinions which are defiant or contemptuous."
(Source: U. S. Supreme Court - Street v. New York)

In 1972, the Supreme Court, in its 6 to 3 decision, struck down a Massachusetts flag desecration law as unconstitutional. This case involved a teenager who had sown a patch of the American flag on the seat of his pants.

Since 1972, there have been other Supreme Court cases in which the burning or other desecration of our American flag has been ruled to be OK by the Court.

Isn't it strange that prior to 1969, we were all in agreement that our American flag was truly our only permanent emblem of freedom and even though it was just pieces of cloth sown together, it was a piece of cloth that needed to be protected.

Now we see shirts, T-shirts and even bikinis made to represent the American flag. Our flag is sometimes flown upside down in protest of one cause or the other. There have even been incidents where children were allowed to stand on the American flag. Some spit on it, some burn it and unfortunately, some don't even understand what our flag represents.

So, just what does our American flag mean to us in the year 2008? Just how far will be try and stretch our Constitution which is already becoming torn and shredded by the opinions of just a few. The Supreme Court says anyone has the right to burn our American flag, so when will the day come when the Court will say it's OK to burn the Constitution as well, after all, it's just a piece of paper.

Learn more about this author, Ken Bradford.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.