Should flag burning be legal under the 1st amendment

I would like to start by thanking my opponent for his acknowledgment of limitations. This too is my first debate on the site. I also thank him for not taking the fun out of it as evidenced in his second sentence. I would also like to clarify for our audience that this debate is on the subject of American law and the American flag. I will now issue a disclaimer. I am by no means unpatriotic or anti-American, and I myself take offense to such displays. This debate is not on the subject of whether one should take offense to these displays, but if they should be legal. I will now demonstrate three reasons. The first, freedom of speech. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states, "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech...." Furthermore, the Constitution also says, "nor shall any state....deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." This thus extends the restriction on laws abridging free speech to state legislatures. By banning flag burning, the state or federal government would ostensibly be violating that. I don't care if you think it is right to do so, this debate is about the LAW. Second, property rights. If an individual owns an item (even the American flag), he should have the right to do what he wants with it. In a democratic society, which the USA is, the government should not prescribe what people can and cannot do with their property. Many people who are in favor of a ban on flag burning are conservative, and as I come from a conservative family, I saw their hypocrisy firsthand when they were all opposed to the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act. This was later deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius. I disagree with the court's decision, and this is because the government shouldn't tell people what to buy (in this case health insurance). Therefore, I would also agree that the government should not tell people what to do with their own property. And third, the Supreme Court says so. They ruled that the states cannot ban flag burning (Texas v. Johnson) and later that the federal government cannot ban flag burning (United States v. Eichman). The Supreme Court was established by the Constitution (Article III) as the highest arbiter of American law. In short, what they say goes, and if you believe in the Constitution, you would accept the Supreme Court's decision. I would also like to add (this argument can be disregarded as it is not a legally based argument) that THE reason many Americans venerate our flag as an image is its symbolic value. We do not venerate the flag itself, but the American ideals that it stands for. Many times, I've heard our flag described as "a symbol of freedom." Therefore, I understand that many people, myself included, do not like to see it burned or otherwise desecrated. However, that only constitutes the destruction of a symbol of freedom. Outlawing flag burning would destroy part of those freedoms themselves. And the irony in that is that the government would be lessening the symbolic value of the flag with such action, exactly what advocates wish to avoid. I eagerly await my opponent's response.