Flag burning has been used as an act of political protest and resistance throughout American history, but it wasn’t until the late-20th century that it became recognized as a constitutionally protected right.
the conviction of Sidney Street, who burned his own American flag to protest the attempted assassination of civil rights leader James Meredith. In 1974, the Supreme Court handed down a similar ruling inthe conviction of Harold Spence, a college student who displayed, outside his home, an upside-down American flag with a peace symbol taped on it to protest the Vietnam War.
The dissenting justices, however, did not view flag burning as an extension of the First Amendment; they specifically took issue with the message. In his dissent, Justice John Paul Stevensthat the American flag’s status as a symbol of national unity outweighed any concerns about the suppression of free speech. Thus, the government had a right to legally enforce respect and reverence for the flag, and could lawfully prohibit flag burning.
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