Trump Signs Executive Order Urging One-Year Jail Sentence For Flag Burning
President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order on Monday calling for the prosecution and potential imprisonment of individuals who burn the American flag if their actions are “likely to incite imminent lawless action,” such as a riot.
The order directs the Department of Justice to pursue legal action against flag desecration to the full extent permissible under the Constitution. “To the maximum extent permitted by the Constitution, the Attorney General shall vigorously prosecute those who violate our laws in ways that involve desecrating the American Flag,” the order states. It also authorizes litigation to challenge existing precedent and redefine the scope of First Amendment protections in this area.
Trump: “One Year in Jail”
Trump framed the executive order as a necessary defense of American values and public peace. “When you burn the American flag, it incites riots at levels that we’ve never seen before. People go crazy,” he said. “If you burn a flag you get one year in jail. No exits, no nothing.”
He likened the move to his previous executive order protecting federal monuments, which mandated a ten-year sentence for vandalism. “Everybody left town; they were gone. Never had a problem after that,” Trump said. “The people in this country don’t want to see our American flag burned and spit on.”
BREAKING: President Trump signs executive order to mandate one full year in jail for protesters who burn American flags
TRUMP: “The people in this country don’t want to see our American flag burned and spit on … They’re bad people that are trying to destroy our nation…” pic.twitter.com/Qo1Ib712F0
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 25, 2025
Democrats Supported Similar Measures in the Past
The executive order is likely to spark legal challenges, but Trump pointed to bipartisan support for flag protection laws in the past. In 2006, then-Senator Hillary Clinton said, “I agree that this burning, this desecration, that can happen to our flag, is something that people have a right to ask this body to try to prohibit and prevent.”
Today, President Trump will sign an executive order cracking down on those who burn the American flag.
Before Democrats pretend to be outraged, here’s Hillary Clinton in 2006:
“I hope….we can pass a law that criminalizes flag burning and desecration.” pic.twitter.com/z6UUoQuJuE
— Christian Collins (@CollinsforTX) August 25, 2025
The Supreme Court Precedent
Flag burning was ruled constitutionally protected speech in the 1989 Supreme Court case Texas v. Johnson, which overturned the conviction of Gregory Lee Johnson for burning a flag outside the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas. The Court ruled 5-4 that Johnson’s actions were protected under the First Amendment.
In his dissent, Chief Justice William Rehnquist argued that the flag deserved unique legal protection. “The American flag… has come to be the visible symbol embodying our Nation… The flag is not simply another ‘idea’ or ‘point of view’ competing for recognition in the marketplace of ideas.”
Justice John Paul Stevens also dissented, writing that “the flag that uniquely symbolizes [the power of liberty and equality] is itself worthy of protection from unnecessary desecration.”
Legal Battle Ahead
While the executive order may have limited immediate effect due to existing constitutional protections, it sets the stage for a broader legal challenge to Texas v. Johnson and the boundaries of symbolic speech. With the DOJ now authorized to pursue litigation aimed at redefining those limits, the question of how far the government can go to protect the American flag may soon be revisited in court.