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RCW 9.86.020

Improper use of flag prohibited.

Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case Spence v. State of Washington (1974)

Most recently applied in Monroe v. State Court of Fulton County (September 1983)

2003 c 53 s 47; 1919 c 107 s 2; 1909 c 249 s 423; 1901 c 154 s 1; RRS s 2675-2.

How often courts cite this section

19731980198320
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) No person shall, in any manner, for exhibition or display:

(a) Place or cause to be placed any word, figure, mark, picture, design, drawing or advertisement of any nature upon any flag, standard, color, ensign or shield of the United States or of this state, or authorized by any law of the United States or of this state; or

(b) Expose to public view any such flag, standard, color, ensign or shield upon which shall have been printed, painted or otherwise produced, or to which shall have been attached, appended, affixed or annexed any such word, figure, mark, picture, design, drawing or advertisement; or

(c) Expose to public view for sale, manufacture, or otherwise, or to sell, give, or have in possession for sale, for gift or for use for any purpose, any substance, being an article of merchandise, or receptacle, or thing for holding or carrying merchandise, upon or to which shall have been produced or attached any such flag, standard, color, ensign or shield, in order to advertise, call attention to, decorate, mark or distinguish such article or substance.

(2) A violation of this section is a gross misdemeanor.

Official source: Washington State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Washington statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.