For many people, the American flag symbolizes all that is great about the United States, including the basic freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. But occasionally the flag becomes a symbol of protest— when it is burned or otherwise desecrated by persons opposing U.S. policies. In two separate decisions, in 1989 and 1990, the Supreme Court ruled that flag desecration is a constitutionally protected act of expression.

Many Americans disagree with this ruling and consider flag desecration an act of betrayal and an insult to veterans who have fought and died for their country. In 1995, and again in 1997, the House of Representatives passed a Constitutional amendment banning flag desecration; each time, the amendment failed to pass in the Senate. Patrick H. Brady, a retired major general and staunch supporter of a flag amendment, imagines how the nation’s...