Is this desecration of the American flag?
I was at a restaurant this evening – ordered a burger with onion rings, cheese, and mushrooms on top. Topping the burger (and holding the onion rings in place) was a small American flag, which looked like this
I was taught that it was illegal to knowingly mutilate, deface, physically defile, burn, maintain on the floor or ground, or trample upon any flag of the United States shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.
and specifically:
(b)As used in this section, the term “flag of the United States” means any flag of the United States, or any part thereof, made of any substance, of any size, in a form that is commonly displayed.
18 U.S. Code § 700 – Desecration of the flag of the United States; penalties
So how is it legal for the restaurant to clean my table and throw away the American flag that was holding my hamburger together?
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10 Answers
I believe you are correct. Contact your local American Legion and ask them to investigate.
No, and there is no actual law regarding desecrating the “American flag” because it was deemed not in the interest of the country to curtail free speech, which sometimes involves desecrating the flag, such as when protesting a war.
https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1079/flag-protection-acts-of-1968-and-1989
Also, the picture you showed is not a real flag. It is a toothpick with a flag graphic.
Can you imagine if people got arrested or fined for dropping their dirty flag graphic t-shirts on their floors? Toothpick graphics are meant to be disposable.
Nope. Due to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, it is unconstitutional for a government (whether federal, state, or municipal) to prohibit the desecration of a flag, due to its status as “symbolic speech.”
The Supreme Court ruled it’s ok to burn the flag and other forms of desecration. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_v._Johnson It was a controversial 5/4 case.
I’m very upset the US flag now seems to represent or be perceived as a Trumper symbol. I feel like the symbol of our flag has been stolen.
I’m fine with plates, toothpicks, t-shirts, and so on, with US flags.
A bit of discretion is important here. For example, a garbage truck can exhibit the flag and that exhibition should not be considered desecration.
A hamburger is a real American sandwich and a flag displayed thereon should be, at the very least, saluted and not criticized.
Normally, any desecration of our flag would be done to an official flag, not some patriotic flourish on a hamburger.
The desecration was mixing onion rings and mushrooms on a single burger. Keep the O rings replace the mushrooms with bacon.
@zenvelo hey, I like onion rings and mushrooms.
What’s wrong with a U.S. flag on a garbage truck? That’s an honest job that we all appreciate is being done.
@JLeslie It isn’t about the job, it’s about the truck.
It might be an American company that uses the flag in their logo. I don’t see a problem. If a trash can had flags all over, because someone who likes flags everywhere does a flag decorated room I would be ok with it.
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