“Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” These are the words of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights and serve as the keystone of American democracy. They guarantee every citizen’s right to express their beliefs without the fear of government punishment, in accordance with the rights that every American citizen possesses: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Yet, on October 8, President Donald Trump got on stage in front of a crowd of thousands of Americans and declared, “We took the freedom of speech away,” referring to the criminalization of burning American flags. With this elementary statement, he managed to violate almost every aspect of the First Amendment.

As determined by Texas v. Johnson (1989), the Supreme Court has ruled that the act of flag burning can be categorized as “symbolic speech.” Flag burning is therefore a form of political protest that is protected under the First Amendment. The jury emphasized that although many may find the act deeply offensive, a personal cannot be used as a basis to criminalize citizens for expressing their First Amendment rights. A year later, the Supreme Court reaffirmed their prior ruling in the case of United States v. Eichman (1990) by declaring that the Flag Protection Act of 1989 was unconstitutional. The Court recognized that the very controversy surrounding flag burning is indicative of why all Americans are guaranteed freedom of speech in the first place.

These rulings serve as evidence that flag burning is not a mere act of defiance, but symbolic of something much more significant. Flag burning functions as a form of political expression as the fundamental right of citizens to challenge corruption within their government. When such protest is criminalized, it sends the message that the First Amendment matters when only those in power approve of the incentive. President Trump has claimed that he will make the act of flag burning punishable for up to one year in prison, directly conflicting with the Constitution. By openly claiming to take away the freedom of speech, Trump is challenging a right that the Founding Fathers of our country deemed undeniable. If the government can punish forms of speech like flag burning, one begins to wonder how secure other rights established in the Bill of Rights truly are. With a simple and trivial gesture, Trump demonstrated that the Constitution is only as strong as the willingness of leaders to respect it. 

This executive order exposes the reality that there are not enough limitations on government authority when it comes to the rights of citizens. Trump has completely disregarded the system of checks and balances, in which each branch of government is supposed to limit the others, allowing him to pursue his own unchecked agenda and lead the country closer to authoritarianism. While the nation is not legitimately facing the risk of entering a dictatorship, it is rather ironic that Trump criminalized flag burning in order to protect a symbol of democracy when he himself is seeking unchecked power. 

Beyond power, Trump’s executive order perpetuates the idea that the government is able to enforce patriotism through law. When the government tries to enforce morality by claiming to protect the symbols of democracy, it makes one wonder how far the government can extend this confinement. This could very quickly and easily escalate to policing thought, expression, or even political orientation. Freedom of speech should mean promoting diverse ideas, not just forced displays of patriotism. By punishing flag burning, Trump sent the message that some forms of expression are more “acceptable” than others, imposing a hierarchy that has no place in a true democratic society.

Freedom of speech lays the foundation for every single American right. By criminalizing nonviolent, symbolic protests like flag burning, the government not only jeopardizes that right but also threatens democracy as a whole. The Supreme Court has made it abundantly clear that flag burning is a form of protected expression in the Bill of Rights, and the outrage it has provoked is precisely why such freedoms exist. True democracy only survives when we defend speech we dislike as fiercely as speech we support.