Flag burning
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The public burning of flags is usually a symbolic act to protest against a state or its policies in a demonstration . The flags are either lit without preparation or, more effectively, doused with fire accelerator beforehand .
Examples
Well-known cases include the movement against the Vietnam War , during whose demonstrations the flags of the United States of America burned both in the United States and in Western Europe. The radical left in Western Europe regularly used this form of protest in protests against US policies. Flags of their own country were also burned if they were to draw attention to the connection between the politics of the USA and, for example, Germany.
In connection with demonstrations in Islamic states in support of the Intifada , flags of the USA, Israel and Great Britain are regularly burned. During the cartoon dispute , flags of various European countries, such as those of Denmark and Germany, were burned.
Legal background
In Germany, burning a “publicly shown flag of the Federal Republic of Germany or one of its countries” is a punishable offense ( denigration of the state and its symbols , Section 90a of the Criminal Code). The attempt is also punishable.
Burning foreign flags is a criminal offense in Germany if it is a matter of "a flag of a foreign state that is publicly displayed on the basis of legal provisions or in accordance with recognized custom" ( Section 104 StGB).
According to a report by the »taz«, the grand coalition plans to make publicly burning or damaging foreign flags a criminal offense. An amendment to a project that aims to better protect the EU flag is to be introduced and discussed in the Bundestag on January 15, 2020 by the parliamentary groups of the CDU / CSU and the SPD. The occasion is the repeated burning of Israeli flags during demonstrations, including in December 2017 in Berlin.
In Austria , the burning of flags is not expressly prohibited. Section 248 of the Criminal Code (degradation of the state and its symbols) applies, according to which a fine of up to 6 months' imprisonment or 360 daily sentences is punished for anyone who:
- in a way that the deed becomes known to a wide public,
- in a hateful way,
- insults, scorns or otherwise disparages a flag of the Republic of Austria or one of its federal states displayed on a public occasion or at a generally accessible event.
In other circumstances e.g. B. burning your own flag as part of a demonstration or similar. not forbidden.
§ 317 StGB (degradation of foreign symbols) protects flags of foreign states and international organizations, provided that the Republic of Austria maintains diplomatic relations with them or belongs to the respective organization and these flags have been affixed by its own or foreign authorities.
In the USA the act of burning one's own flag is not a criminal offense, some organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America or the American Legion even burn damaged or soiled flags as a ritual of honor. However, it can be prosecuted if public order is disrupted or someone else's property is damaged. Efforts to expand the constitutional order offense, describing flag desecration amendment ( flag desecration supplement ).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Banned in the future? , Jüdische Allgemeine, January 13, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
