Speech Tyrants Would Seek To Suppress

Yes, if I were king, I would not allow people to go about burning the American flag.  However, we have a First Amendment, which says that the right of free speech shall not be abridged.  And it is addressed, in particular, to speech critical of the government.  I mean, that was the main kind of speech that tyrants would seek to suppress.

Burning the flag is a form of expression.  Speech doesn’t just mean written words or oral words.  It could be semaphore.  And burning a flag is a symbol that expresses an idea -- "I hate the government," "the government is unjust," whatever.

-- Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (1936 - 2016) in an interview on Piers Morgan Live (18 July 2012), discussing his vote to protect flag burning as speech in Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989) (via CNN)