ABSTRACT
The 1968-1974 period saw an explosion of flag desecration prosecutions unprecedented in American history, of which all but a handful were brought under state laws rather than under the new federal measure. As a result of the same climate that led to passage of the new federal law, about ten states revised their own flag desecration laws between 1967 and 1969 by drastically increasing existing penalties. As many of the cases just discussed suggest, the general picture presented by the judicial consideration of the flag desecration issue during the Vietnam War era was one of chaotic, highly discretionary law enforcement and contradictory court decisions. Before leaving the subject of the Vietnam era flag desecration prosecutions, mention should be made of some of the more bizarre incidents, arrests, and penalties of the period. By 1970, what amounted to a cultural war using the flag as a primary symbol was being waged across the United States.
