Missouri Revised Statutes
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 578.095 (2026)
Desecration of flags
✓ current as of May 2026
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578.095. Desecration of flags — penalty. — 1. A person commits the offense of desecrating a flag if he or she purposefully and publicly mutilates, defaces, defiles, tramples upon or otherwise desecrates the national flag of the United States or the state flag of the state of Missouri.
2. The offense of desecrating a flag is a class A misdemeanor.
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(L. 1980 H.B. 965 § 1, A.L. 2014 S.B. 491)
Effective 1-01-17
(2014) Section is overbroad and is facially unconstitutional under the First Amendment. Snider v. City of Cape Girardeau, 752 F.3d 1149 (8th Cir.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4
cases, 1989–2014 · leading case: Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989).
Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989). “§ 97-7-39 (1973); Mo. Rev. Stat. § 578.095 (Supp. 1989); Mont.”
Snider v. Peters, 928 F. Supp. 2d 1113 (E.D. Mo. 2013). “Snider, III, slashed a United States flag in front of his home in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and was charged with violating Missouri’s flag desecration statute, § 578.095, Mo.Rev.Stat. He filed suit pursuant to 42 U.”
Snider v. City of Cape Girardeau, 861 F. Supp. 2d 974 (E.D. Mo. 2012). “In Count III, plaintiff seeks an injunction prohibiting defendant Swingle from enforcing Ordinance § 17-5 and Mo.Rev.Stat. § 578.095. In a separate order, the Court ruled that Mo.”
Frank Snider, III v. Matthew Peters (8th Cir. 2014). “After reviewing the statute, Mo. Rev. Stat. § 578.095 , Officer Peters drafted a probable cause statement indicating he believed Snider had committed the criminal offense of desecration of the American flag.”
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