Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States giving Congress power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.

This measure, H.J. Res. 101 from the 119th Congress, is a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment. If adopted, it would grant Congress the explicit power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States. The text provides the standard amendment process: it must be approved by two-thirds of both the House and the Senate and then ratified by three-fourths of state legislatures within seven years of submission. Once ratified, the amendment would be part of the Constitution and would authorize federal action to criminalize the physical desecration of the U.S. flag. In practical terms, if this amendment were ratified, Congress could pass federal laws that regulate or prohibit the desecration of the flag. The measure does not itself define “desecration,” leaving that to future legislation or judicial interpretation, which could shape how broadly or narrowly the prohibition would apply. The proposal would represent a significant shift from current Supreme Court precedent that has protected flag desecration as symbolic speech under the First Amendment.