Donald Trump signed an executive order that effectively bans burning the American flag. Flag burning has a longstanding history as a form of political expression, and it's the U.S. Code's preferred way of disposing of one no longer fit for display.

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in 1989 that burning the American flag is an act of political expression protected by the Constitution. Trump’s executive order acknowledged that ruling, but said there is still room to prosecute flag burning if it “is likely to incite imminent lawless action” or amounts to “fighting words.”