1918, August: E.V. Starr is tried and convicted in Montana of sedition. Starr had been accosted by a mod which demanded that he kiss the American flag. Starr refused, reportedly saying "What is this thing anyway? Nothing but a piece of cotton with a little paint on it and some other marks in the corner there. I will not kiss that thing. It might be covered with microbes." Starr is sentenced to 10-20 years of hard labor in a state penitentiary as well as fined $500 plus court costs.
1918, November 09: The Kansas Supreme Court hears the appeal of Frederick Shumaker, Jr. for his conviction for having made to someone a "vulgar and indecent" suggestion about what to do with a flag. According to the court, "Such language will not, cannot, be used by any man in any place concerning our flag, if he has any proper respect for it. The man who uses such language concerning it, either in jest or in argument, does not have the respect for it that should be found in the breast of every citizen of the United States." The justices vote unanimously to uphold Shumaker's conviction.
1924, June 14: The words "the flag of the United States of America" are substituted for "my Flag" in the The Pledge of Allegiance.
1931, April 15: The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of Stromberg v. California. It is accepted that people can use words to express opposition to the American government, but what about symbols or emblems? Does the right to free speech include a right to express views and communicate ideas via means other than literal speech? This would have implications for whether people have the right to use the American flag in ways deemed "disrespectful."
1931, May 18: The Supreme Court ruled in the case of Stromberg v. California that laws banning the use of emblems or symbols to express opposition to the American government are an unconstitutional infringement on free speech. This suggests that it is also an infringement on free speech to use the American flag in a manner that is "disrespectful."
1940, April 25:
Argued: Minersville School District v. Gobitis
In an 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that a school district's interest in creating national unity was sufficient to allow them to require students to salute the flag.
1940, June 03:
Decided: Minersville School District v. Gobitis
In an 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court would rule that a school district's interest in creating national unity was sufficient to allow them to require students to salute the flag.
1942
The United States government gives official recognition to the The Pledge of Allegiance, written in 1892 by socialist author Francis Bellamy.
1943 , March 11:
Argued: West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette
The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that a school district violated the rights of students by forcing them to salute the American flag.
1943, June 14:
Decided: West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette
The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that a school district violated the rights of students by forcing them to salute the American flag.
1956, June 14: President Eisenhower signed a congressional resolution which added the words "under God" to the The Pledge of Allegiance. The last phrase now reads: '...one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.'
1965
Treo, Inc., a manufacturer of women's underwear, introduced into its line of "pop art" panty girdles a model that was decorated with red and white vertical stripes alongside a group of blue stars on a white field - an obvious reference to the American flag. This outraged the Daughters of the American Revolution and the group pressured Treo to stop production on the girdle and recall those which had already been distributed to stores around the country.
1966, June 06: While listening to the radio, Sidney Street heard that civil rights leader James Meredith had been assassinated by a sniper in Mississippi. This so outraged Street that he left his Brooklyn apartment with an American flag he owned and burned it on a street corner, declaring to others that "If they let that happen to Meredith we don't need an American flag." Street was charged and convicted under a New York law making it a crime to publicly mutilate or "publicly defy . . . or cast contempt upon [any American flag] either by words or act." The Supreme Court would later rule in Streets favor, though only on the basis that it is unconstitutional to ban the use of "words" in such a manner - they ignored the question of whether just a ban on flag burning for the purpose of casting "contempt" on the American flag was constitutional.
