Veterans Show Strong Support for Artist Burning the American Flag — "I Approve!"

A few foundational principles make the United States the free country it is. Among those is the right to freedom of speech.

The right to free speech, guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, means that citizens can speak without fear of reprisal from the government.

President Donald Trump challenged that right with an executive order banning the burning of the American flag, which had previously been considered a protected form of speech and protest.

One woman decided to flout the law anyway, burning an American flag on TikTok in an artistic protest. Surprisingly to some, veterans swarmed her comments with support, reminding people what they fought for.

It all started when Trump declared that burning a flag would now be punishable by a year in prison, according to Time. Trump said of the order, “All over the world, they burn the American flag. The people in this country don't want to see our American flag burned and spit on and by people that are, in many cases, paid agitators.”

He said that the burning of a flag would result in a year in prison, "No early exits, no nothing… And it goes on your record."

That didn't deter TikTok user @julieburrito. If anything, it inspired her to greater heights. Prior to the executive order, Julie, whose bio notes her as an artist, had been "desecrating" a flag by adding beading to it, one by one. When asked why she's doing it, she noted in a video that desecrating the flag as a form of protest is protected speech, according to a Supreme Court ruling.

Under the beading, Julie says she put a quote by Trump about sexual assault, which reads, "I moved on her like a b---h."

After the executive order, she decided to skip the artistic middleman and go straight to burning a flag to show her disdain for the administration's policies.

As she worked on her protest beading for the one flag, another flag hung behind her, slowly burning to ash. Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name" played the, "F--k you, I won't do what you tell me," part of the chorus while Julie calmly beaded against the backdrop of the burning flag.

And, unsurprisingly, her comments immediately filled with veterans who supported her form of protest.

One veteran called her a patriot, while another wrote, "U.S. Army Veteran. This right here is what we all served for. Don’t give up your freedom to a tyrant. I approve this!”

Another wrote, "As a veteran, I approve this message," with one adding, "Vet and FORMER law enforcement… I approve."

It's unclear whether or not Julie will face arrest and imprisonment for her protest, but the idea of banning the burning of flags is a complex one. In 1989, a man named Gregory Lee Johnson was arrested for burning the American flag in protest of policies from the administration of former President Ronald Reagan.

The Supreme Court eventually took on the case. In a 5-4 ruling, they determined that burning a flag was a protected form of protest and speech (via Oyez.org).

The ruling read in part, "if there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable."

It's unclear how the SCOTUS of 2025 will respond to Trump's executive order, but it seems like a showdown has been placed in motion.