united-states police
Is the thin blue line on the stars and stripes considered desecration of the flag?
<p>Police officers all over the country are flying a flag or wearing patches of the following flag.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/GChnj.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/GChnj.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<ul>
<li>Isn't this considered desecration of the flag under 18 U.S. Code § 700?</li>
</ul>

<p>That statute, which was struck down by the Supreme Court in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/496/310" rel="noreferrer">US v. Eichman</a>, 496 U.S. 310, does not define desecration. Case law on point is not forthcoming since there is no enforceable law on the topic and as long as the First Amendment holds, we can't test laws prohibiting flag desecration. The general meaning of the word is to treat disrespectfully, irreverently, or profanely, and that clearly is not the case in the present usage. A different statute yet to be written might outlaw "any modifications of the flag" (and would suffer the same fate as 18 USC 700), which could be technically violated in the application of a thin blue line to a flag.</p>
