Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Fast food chain Steak ‘n Shake has started installing large American flags at its outlets across the country, the company said in an Oct. 5 post on X.
“The flag installations have begun at Steak n Shake,” the company said. “Every Steak n Shake is getting the tallest and biggest American flag that local governments will allow! Steak n Shake proudly supports American values and traditions.”
The post went viral, garnering 6.4 million views and nearly 200,000 likes as of 7:19 a.m. ET on Monday.
“I’m ordering from there tomorrow!” billionaire Elon Musk said in a reply to the post.
Steak ‘n Shake, based in Indiana, employs more than 10,000 people according to LinkedIn. As of August, there were 397 Steak ‘n Shake restaurants across 24 states and territories in the United States, according to an Aug. 20 report by data company ScrapeHero.
Steak ‘n Shake’s announcement comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Aug. 25 directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute people caught burning the flag or desecrating it in other ways.
“Our great American Flag is the most sacred and cherished symbol of the United States of America, and of American freedom, identity, and strength. Over nearly two-and-a-half centuries, many thousands of American patriots have fought, bled, and died to keep the Stars and Stripes waving proudly,” the order said.
Burning the national flag is a “statement of contempt, hostility, and violence against our Nation—the clearest possible expression of opposition to the political union that preserves our rights, liberty, and security. Burning this representation of America may incite violence and riot,” it said.
Bondi was instructed to pursue charges in line with the provisions of the First Amendment.
Burning the U.S. flag was a form of political protest that became prevalent during the Vietnam War. Subsequently, the Flag Protection Act of 1968 was passed, which banned burning and defiling the flag.
The Supreme Court overturned the law in 1989, declaring that desecration of the American flag is protected under the First Amendment.
In an Aug. 25 statement, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) opposed the executive order.
“Flag burning as a form of political protest is protected by the First Amendment. That’s nothing new,” said FIRE Chief Counsel Bob Corn-Revere. “While people can be prosecuted for burning anything in a place they aren’t allowed to set fires, the government can’t prosecute protected expressive activity—even if many Americans, including the president, find it ‘uniquely offensive and provocative.’”
In an Oct. 3 post on Truth Social, Trump reiterated that his government would not tolerate incidents of flag burning.
“To ICE, Border Patrol, Law Enforcement, and all U.S. Military: As per my August 25, 2025 Executive Order, please be advised that, from this point forward, anybody burning the American Flag will be subject to one year in prison. You will be immediately arrested,” he wrote.
In June, Trump installed two massive American flags at the White House, one on each side of the building.
In March, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced the Make American Flags in America Act of 2025 to ensure U.S. flags procured by federal agencies and put up on federal property are fully manufactured in the United States, the lawmaker’s office said in a March 7 statement.
Last year, Congress passed the All-American Flag Act, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden. The act prohibited federal agencies from using funds to buy American flags unless they have been manufactured in the country using domestically grown materials.
“However loopholes in the law have allowed Chinese companies to sell American flags on e-commerce platforms and falsely label those flags as American-made,” Cruz said.
“The Make American Flags in America Act of 2025 removes an acquisition threshold and requires the [Federal Trade Commission] to produce a report assessing enforcement.”
Cruz asked Congress to take up the bill and “expeditiously pass it.” The bill has been referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.