Georgia Code
Article 1 - State and Other Flags
§ 50-3-1. Description of State Flag; Militia to Carry Flag; Defacing Public Monuments; Obstruction and Relocation of Monuments

History. Ga. L. 1916, p. 158, § 3; Code 1933, § 86-1004; Ga. L. 1951, p. 311, § 43; Ga. L. 1955, p. 10, § 90; Ga. L. 1956, p. 38, § 1; Ga. L. 2001, p. 1, § 1; Ga. L. 2003, p. 26, § 1; Ga. L. 2004, p. 731, § 1; Ga. L. 2019, p. 268, § 1/SB 77; Ga. L. 2021, p. 922, § 50/HB 497.
The 2019 amendment, effective April 26, 2019, rewrote subsection (b), which read: “(b)(1) It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or other entity to mutilate, deface, defile, or abuse contemptuously any publicly owned monument, plaque, marker, or memorial which is dedicated to, honors, or recounts the military service of any past or present military personnel of this state, the United States of America or the several states thereof, or the Confederate States of America or the several states thereof, and no officer, body, or representative of state or local government or any department, agency, authority, or instrumentality thereof shall remove or conceal from display any such monument, plaque, marker, or memorial for the purpose of preventing the visible display of the same. A violation of this paragraph shall constitute a misdemeanor.
“(2) No publicly owned monument or memorial erected, constructed, created, or maintained on the public property of this state or its agencies, departments, authorities, or instrumentalities in honor of the military service of any past or present military personnel of this state, the United States of America or the several states thereof, or the Confederate States of America or the several states thereof shall be relocated, removed, concealed, obscured, or altered in any fashion; provided, however, that appropriate measures for the preservation, protection, and interpretation of such monuments or memorials shall not be prohibited.
“(3) Conduct prohibited by paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection shall be enjoined by the appropriate superior court upon proper application therefor.
“(4) It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or other entity acting without authority to mutilate, deface, defile, abuse contemptuously, relocate, remove, conceal, or obscure any privately owned monument, plaque, marker, or memorial which is dedicated to, honors, or recounts the military service of any past or present military personnel of this state, the United States of America or the several states thereof, or the Confederate States of America or the several states thereof. Any person or entity who suffers injury or damages as a result of a violation of this paragraph may bring an action individually or in a representative capacity against the person or persons committing such violations to seek injunctive relief and to recover general and exemplary damages sustained as a result of such person’s or persons’ unlawful actions.”
The 2021 amendment, effective May 10, 2021, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted “great seal of the State of Georgia” for “Great Seal of the State of Georgia” in the fifth sentence of subsection (a).
Cross references.
Display of state flag by agencies, § 45-12-83.1.
Editor’s notes.
Ga. L. 2003, p. 26, § 2, not codified by the General Assembly, called for a referendum to modify the state flag which was held on March 2, 2004, and the 2003 State Flag, adopted at the 2003 Session of the General Assembly, was approved by a vote of 577,370 to 212,020.
Ga. L. 2003, p. 26, § 3, not codified by the General Assembly, provides for severability.
Law reviews.
For note on the 2001 amendment to this Code section, see 18 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 305 (2001).
For note on the 2003 amendment to this Code section, see 20 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 256 (2003).
For note, “How Devolved is Too Devolved?: A Comparative Analysis Examining the Allocation of Power Between State and Local Government Through the Lens of the Confederate Monument Controversy,” see 53 Ga. L. Rev. 371 (2018).
For article on the 2019 amendment of this Code section, see 36 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 219 (2019).