Bush-Era Flag Burning Ban Didn’t Fly With High Court

This week’s patriotic memorials honoring President George H.W. Bush stand in contrast to a chapter of his presidency where flag-burning, a practice which he abhorred, became a cemented right in two U.S. Supreme Court cases.

Bush was a World War II Navy pilot and the last American chief executive to serve in combat. A decorated public servant, he sought to prohibit flag burning while serving as the nation’s 41st chief executive.

“The 20th century wars were still vivid in the public imagination,” making the flag a sacred national symbol, former Solicitor General Ken Starr, who argued one of the ...