President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday that requires the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute incidents in which an American flag is burned.

The order runs counter to a Supreme Court decision that holds flag burning is free speech explicitly protected under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

That ruling, in Texas v. Johnson in 1989, held that burning the American flag constituted "symbolic speech" and was guaranteed protection. It noted that even if society found acts of speech "outrageous" or offensive, they remained protected from government interference.

The new order from the White House includes qualifications that such burning may still be prosecuted if it could be considered incitement.

"Notwithstanding the Supreme Courts ruling

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