Desecrate the Flag, 1967

Carl Johan De Geer

Narrator: Desecrate the Flag by Carl Johan De Geer, from 1967

The words printed in the upper left corner can be translated as:
Desecrate the Flag
Refuse to Bear Arms
Betray The Motherland
Be Unpatriotic

And in the middle of the flag, the word “cock”.

Carl Johan De Geer opposed the idea that the state should be able to force its citizens to take up weapons. He also protested against the ways nationalism can be used to turn people against one another.

When Desecrate the Flag was shown at a Stockholm gallery in 1967, the police arrived and confiscated the entire edition of the prints.

De Geer was charged with incitement and with insulting a national symbol. He was convicted by the Supreme Court and fined.

The case was widely debated. A few years later, Sweden abolished the law against desecrating national symbols.

The confiscated prints were destroyed by the state. This print is one of the very few that remain from the first edition.

So now it’s time for a question:
Do you think there are situations where breaking a law can be more responsible than obeying it?