Is flag burning illegal in the United States?
Legal / protected speech
Flag desecration is constitutionally protected and not a criminal offense.
The United States is one of 10 countries classified “Legal / protected speech” for flag desecration — 15% of the 67 with data. (Also searched as flag burning.)
Source
- Taken from
- Wikipedia: Flag desecration
- Last checked
- 17 September 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 Desecrating the national flag is a crime punishable by prison or fines.
- Jamaica
- Legal / protected speech Flag desecration is considered legal in Jamaica, particularly for disposing of damaged flags.
- Dominican Republic
- Criminal offense Desecrating the national flag is a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment and a fine.
- Aruba
- Criminal offense Defiling or burning the flag is punishable by imprisonment or a fine.
- Curaçao
- Criminal offense Desecrating the national flag is a criminal offense punishable by prison or a fine.
- Suriname
- Criminal offense Desecrating the Surinamese flag is a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment.
Other laws in United States
- Blasphemy Laws
- No blasphemy law
- Apostasy Laws
- Legal
- Holocaust Denial
- No specific law
- Conversion Therapy
- Varies by region
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.