The American Flag: A Symbol Of Freedom

The American flag is an astounding symbolism that represents America’s freedom. The red stripes on the flag represents hardiness and valour, the blue represents vigilance, perseverance, and justice, lastly the white represents purity and innocence. However, the flag that symbolizes freedom and represents the United States, it is also the flag that can divide the nation apart. In America, one of the most controversial act of freedom is burning the American flag. This arises the debate whether a law should amend the Constitution or not. However, the Constitution, itself, states that it is not an malice act if a person burns the American flag. Thus, the Constitution should not be amended to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag because

it takes away the people’s rights.
The First Amendment, which protects a citizen’s freedom of speech, will be broken if the Constitution is amended. In the “Bill of Rights”, the First Amendment directly states, “ Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or 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” (Source A). Since the First Amendment protects people’s rights, amending the Constitution will be a result of hypocrisy. The results of amending the Constitution to ban flag desecration will cause riots. Even if the flag does represent the nation, people will fight if their freedom is taken away. An editorial from Los Angeles Times claims, “But the best argument against the flag amendment is the one some opponents are reluctant to make for fear of political fallout: It would make America less free” (Source F). As the editorial states this fact, people would not want their given rights to be taken away. In Two Supreme Court Decisions, it says, “ Justice William Brennan wrote the 5-4 majority decision in holding that the defendant’s act of flag burning was protected speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution” (Source D). The First Amendment is a major blockade for the Constitution to not be amended, because people express their given rights of freedom of speech.
However, the American flag represents the Nation.

Burning the flag is a symbol of despising the United States. In a dissenting opinion by Rehnquist, he writes, “ The American, then, throughout more than 200 years of our history, has come to be the visible symbol embodying our Nation” (Source E). Rehnquist shows great respect in the American flag because it has been in America’s history for so long. He makes his point by defending that the flag symbolizes the United States. In Todd Lindberg’s editorial, he states, “ On the other hand, the flag is not the freedom itself but it is the symbol” (Source I). Nevertheless, Todd Lindberg also claims, “ First, the flag is the flag; the only reason to accord its special status that it is, in fact the singular national symbol” (Source I). The American flag is just special because it is the national symbol, but if it did not have that title it is just an ordinary piece of cloth. No one would care if that cloth was burned because it does not have any special meaning. Also, the editorial from Los Angeles Times claims, “There has been no epidemic of flag-burning since the Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that destruction of Old Glory as a protest was symbolic speech protected by the 1st Amendment has” (Source F). Therefore, the people’s fear of flag desecration is proven to be false.
Ultimately, the Constitution should remain as the way it is. The First Amendment protects the freedom of speech, and if that right is taken away, many people would be furious. Even if the American flag represents the nation, burning the flag is also a way one expresses their freedom of speech. Therefore, Constitution should not be amended to protect the flags, because it will lead to hypocrisy in protecting the people’s

rights.