Author: Shailendra Pandey
The national flag of any country is connected to its sentiments. It is a symbol of the integrity, sovereignty, independence, culture and history of that country. If we talk about India, the tricolor is a very sacred and respectable thing. A separate flag code has been made for this. But, in many countries there are not so many rules and regulations regarding the national flag. There, insulting the national flag is also considered freedom of expression. America is at the forefront in this matter, where the flag can be hoisted upside down, torn and even burnt to express protest and anger.
Argument started with the judge
Recently, a debate broke out again in America regarding the flag and the reason was Supreme Court judge Samuel Alito. An old picture outside his/her house went viral in May this year. In this, the American flag was hoisted upside down at the judge’s house. This picture is said to be of January 2021. It was claimed that the judge had hoisted the flag upside down in protest against Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election. Just a few days before this incident, Donald Trump’s supporters attacked the US Capitol Hill against the election results. However, later the judge clarified that his/her protest was against his/her neighbor, not Biden.
Trump supporters also took support
Trump’s Republican Party opposes the use of the national flag for demonstrations. When Trump became president, some Americans tweeted a picture of the flag upside down in protest. Angered by this, Trump then said that the citizenship of those who insult the flag should be revoked. Coincidentally, when Trump lost the next election, his/her supporters also resorted to the flag to protest, held it upside down and burned it.
freedom of expression
From time to time the US government has tried to make the laws related to the flag stricter, but every such attempt has been foiled by the common people through protests. The US Supreme Court has said in many of its decisions that turning the flag upside down and burning it is also a form of expression. This is a method of symbolic speech, i.e. expressing one’s opinion on an issue without saying anything.
How did it all start
At one time, flying the flag upside down meant being in serious trouble. Ships usually used this method. The first flag code made in America also stated that the flag can be flown upside down if one is in serious danger. But, soon this method started being used to register protest as well.
Three stages of protest
If protests can be held with the American flag today, there are three important cases behind it. These can also be called three stages.
1. The first case is of the year 1966. Civil rights activist James Meredith was murdered openly on the street in Mississippi. On this, a man named Sidney Street publicly burnt the American flag and said that if our country cannot protect James, then we do not need the flag. The Supreme Court said that punishment cannot be given for saying derogatory words about the national flag.
2. The second case is of 1974, when a college student in Washington hoisted the flag upside down in protest against the killing of Vietnam protesters in America. Even then the court said that this is a symbolic speech and the government cannot interfere in it.
3. In 1984, a man named Gregory Lee Johnson burned the national flag in protest against US President Ronald Reagan and buried its ashes in the ground. This protest took place in Texas and according to the law there, Johnson had committed a crime. However, here too the Supreme Court said that Johnson has the right to express his/her opinion, even if it is expressed by burning the flag.
disregard the law
The Johnson case created a lot of uproar in American politics. In 1989, Congress adopted the Flag Protection Act, according to which burning the American flag was made a crime. But, it made no difference. Even after this, the cases of hoisting the American flag upside down and burning it were termed by the court as freedom of expression.
Softness in these countries too
In Australia, insulting the flag is not illegal in itself, but it should be done within the ambit of law. There is an incident when the Australian flag was burnt publicly to express political protest. The flag was very big and petrol was used to burn it. The authority admitted that the crowd present there could have been harmed due to the big flag and petrol, so the case was of negligence. In Denmark, one can insult one’s own flag, but not that of other countries. The government there believes that this can spoil foreign relations. Similarly, the laws of Belgium and Canada are also lenient.
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author’s own
