How does the case of Tinker v. Des Moines School district, 1969, illustrate constitutional protection of symbolic speech?

In 1965, three teenagers from Iowa Marie Beth Tinker, her brother John and their friend Christopher Eckhardt decided to protest peacefully against the Vietnam War, wearing armbands in their public schools. School officials saw this as a violation of discipline and that students who wore armbands had to remove them or be suspended. Teenagers did not want to do it, and the district suspended them until their protest was over.

Parents of children filed a lawsuit against the school district, arguing that the school violated students' free speech. The lower courts confirmed the school district's decision as necessary to maintain discipline, so parents complained to the Supreme Court of the decision. In 1969, the Supreme Court listened to the Tinker case against the Des Moines Independent School District.

One important aspect of Tinker's case was that students' protest was not in the form of a written or pronounced expression, but instead used the symbol: armbands.

The Supreme Court ruled that the armbands were in the form of a symbolic speech, which was protected by the First Amendment, and therefore the school violated the rights of the student to a symbolic speech guaranteed by the First Amendment. The silent protest did not interfere with the work of the school in any way, and therefore the restriction of the school district of students' free speech was not justified.

So, the answer is YES, this case illustrates constitutional protection of symbolic speech.