Say this amendment passes, and states pass laws banning flag desecration.
What if someone burns something looks a lot like the American flag, but has, say, 11 stripes? Or 51 stars? Or better yet, has some subtle difference that makes it not an “official” flag — maybe the stars are the wrong size.
What then? Would desecration of “an object that looks an awful lot like a flag but actually isn’t” be illegal? What, specifically, would the amendment protect?
“You’re under arrest for burning the American flag.”
“Um, actually, this isn’t an American flag. The Defense Technical Information Center specifies that the width or ‘fly’ of the flag be 1.9 times its height. What I burned had a width that was 1.8 times the height, thus it was not, per se, a U.S. flag. Also, the DTIC specifies that the flag’s red be ‘Cable No. 70180 Old Glory Red’ using the Standard Color Card of America as maintained by the Color Association of the United States — otherwise known as Pantone Red PMS 193. My flag used PMS 192. I’ll be on my way now.”
Follow-up: As Eric noted in the comments, John Scalzi covers this ground in even more detail, with pictures and everything!
Eric Berlin says:
John Scalzi beat you to it.