A Texas law that criminalizes the desecration of the American flag is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment's protection of symbolic speech. This decision invalidates laws prohibiting flag desecration in 48 of the 50 states. Alaska and Wyoming had no such laws. Decided June 21, 1989 (argued March 21, 1989). Opinion of the Court: William J. Brennan → go there Dissenting: Rehnquist, Stevens. Applied: the First Amendment → go there Applied: the Fourteenth Amendment → go there Topic: Freedom of speech and of the press. Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989), is a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court held, 5–4, that burning the flag of the United States is protected speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as doing so counts as symbolic speech and political speech. Wiki link