Editing Flag Desecration Amendment (section)

{{Short description|Proposed constitutional amendment to the United States Constitution}}
{{Use American English|date = August 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = August 2019}}

The '''Flag Desecration Amendment''' (often referred to as the '''Flag-Burning Amendment''') is a proposed addition to the [[Constitution of the United States]] that would allow the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] to prohibit by statute and provide punishment for the physical "[[flag desecration|desecration]]" of the [[flag of the United States]]. The concept of flag desecration continues to provoke a heated debate over protecting a [[national symbol]], preserving [[freedom of speech|free speech]], and upholding the liberty said to be represented by that national symbol. While the proposal passed by the two-thirds majority required in the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] several times, in each instance it failed to attain the same required super-majority in the [[United States Senate|Senate]], or was never voted upon in the Senate at all.

While the proposed amendment is frequently referred to colloquially in terms of expression of political views through "flag burning", the language would permit the prohibition of all forms of [[flag desecration]], which may take forms other than burning, such as using the flag for clothing or napkins.

The most recent legislative attempt to propose a flag desecration amendment to come to a vote in both the House and Senate in the same congressional session failed in the Senate by one vote on June 27, 2006.<ref name=senatevote2006/><ref name=cnn>[http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/06/27/flag.burning/index.html Flag-burning amendment fails by a vote], [[CNN.com]], June 28, 2006.</ref><ref name=nytonevote>[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/27/washington/27cnd-flag.html Amendment on Flag Burning Fails by One Vote in Senate], ''[[The New York Times]]''. June 27, 2006.</ref> Senator [[Steve Daines]] (R-MT) introduced a joint resolution to ban flag burning on June 14, 2019, and received support from the [[First presidency of Donald Trump|Trump administration]], but the resolution was unsuccessful.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Politi |first=Daniel |date=June 15, 2019 |title=Trump Backs Measure to Ban Flag Burning: 'A No Brainer!' |work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/06/trump-backs-ban-flag-burning-no-brainer.html |access-date=September 13, 2022}}</ref> Daines reintroduced the resolution on June 14, 2021.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Choi |first=Joseph |date=June 14, 2021 |title=GOP senator introduces constitutional amendment to ban flag burning |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/558375-gop-senator-introduces-constitutional-amendment-to-ban-flag-burning/ |access-date=September 13, 2022}}</ref>