<P> After the Johnson decision, the Flag Protection Act was passed, protecting flags from anyone who "mutilates, defaces, physically defiles, burns, maintains on the floor or ground, or tramples upon any flag". This decision was later struck down in the Eichman decision . After that case, several flag burning amendments to the Constitution were proposed . On 22 June 2005, a Flag Desecration Amendment was passed by the House with the needed two - thirds majority . On 27 June 2006, another attempt to pass a ban on flag burning was rejected by the Senate in a close vote of 66 in favor, 34 opposed, one vote short of the two - thirds majority needed to send the amendment to be voted on by the states . </P> <P> In common usage, the phrase' flag burning' refers only to burning a flag as an act of protest . However the United States Flag Code states that "the flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display (for example, the flag being faded or torn), should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning". </P> <P> Flying an American flag upside down is not necessarily meant as political protest . The practice has its origin in a distress signal; displaying a flag in this manner is "a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property"; It can also be viewed as an act of desecration . It has been used by extension to make a statement about distress in civic, political, or other areas . On the 13 April 1996 episode of Saturday Night Live, musical guests Rage Against the Machine made a statement about the host, billionaire Steve Forbes, by hanging two upside - down American flags from their amplifiers . </P> <P> The Battle Flag of the North Virginian Army, commonly referred to as the Confederate flag, has sometimes been burned in protest as well . In 2000, protesters from the Jewish Defense League burned Confederate and Nazi flags to protest an arson attempt against a Reno, Nevada synagogue . This was criticized by a representative of the Anti-Defamation League, who said that it was more effective to work with the police and other authorities rather than to engage in "tactics which inflame and exacerbate situations ." </P>

What is the meaning of flying the us flag upside down