Flag-Protection Amendment (Proposed Constitutional Amendment)

A proposed amendment aimed at outlawing the desecration of the American flag, impacting political dynamics among key characters.

1 appearances

Purpose

To outlaw or criminalize public desecration of the American flag (to prohibit flag burning) as a constitutional prohibition.

Significance

Serves as the ceremonial rallying point that dramatizes performative patriotism and fractures Bartlet’s inner circle; the amendment functions as an ideological catalyst that converts a unity ritual into a narrative turning point, foreshadowing political and moral conflict over civil liberties versus symbolic protection.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

1 moments

S1E16 · 20 Hours in L.A.

Ceremony of the Flag, Quiet Walkout

The proposed Flag‑Protection Amendment operates as the event’s focal object: it is the subject of the speeches, the reason for staged applause, and the implicit target of the aides' exit. It is not a physical document onstage but a rhetorical artifact whose presence organizes allegiances and reveals ruptures in the President's circle.

Before: Presented rhetorically and ceremonially — the amendment is the centerpiece of the meeting, invoked by speakers and embodied in the event’s patriotic framing.

After: Remains the ostensible subject of the ceremony but its legitimacy is undermined by visible internal dissent; its unifying power is shown to be contested.

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