CHAP. 356.—An ACT to prevent and punish the desecration of the fiag
of the United States. (H. B. 230.)

Approved March 20, 1916.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
any person who in any manner, for exhibition or display, shall
place, or cause to be placed, any word, figure, mark, picture, de-
sign, drawing, or any advertisement of any nature, upon any
flag, standard, color, or ensign, of the United States of America.
or shall expose or cause to be exposed to public view any such
flag, standard, color or ensign, upon which shall be printed.
painted, or otherwise placed, or to which shall be attached. ap-
pended, affixed, or annexed, any word, figure, mark, picture.
design, or drawing, or any advertisement of any nature, or whe
shall expose to public view, manufacture, sell, expose for sale.
give away, or have in possession for sale, or to give away, or
for use for any purpose, any article, or substance, being an ar-
ticle of merchandise, or a receptacle of merchandise, upon which
shall have been printed, painted, attached, or otherwise placed
a representation of any such flag, standard, color. or ensign. to
advertise, call attention to, decorate, mark, or distinguish the
article, or substance, on which so placed, or who shall publicly
mutilate, deface, defile, or defy, trample upon, or cast contempt.
either by words or act, upon any such flag, standard. color. or
ensign, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be
punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, or by
imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or both, in the
discretion of the court.

2. The words flag, color, ensign, as used in this act shall
Include any flag, standard, ensign, or any picture or representa-
tion, or either thereof, made of any substance, or represented
on any substance, and of any size, evidently purporting to be,
either of, said flag, standard, color or ensign, of the United
States of America, or a picture, or a representation of either
thereof, upon which shall be shown the colors, the stars, and
the stripes, in any number of either thereof, or by which the
person seeing the same, without deliberation may believe the
same to represent the flag, color, standard, or ensign, of the
United States of America.

3. This act shall not apply to any act permitted by the sta-
tutes of the United States of America or by the United States
army and navy regulations, nor shall it be construed to apply
to a newspaper, periodical, book, pamphlet, circular, certificate,
diploma, warrant, or commission of appointment to office, orna-
mental picture, article of jewelry, or stationery for use in cor-
respondence, on any of which shall be printed, painted, or
placed said flag, disconnected from any advertisement.