Some residents of a housing community in San Marcos, California, are balking at a recent directive from their HOA to relocate their American Flags ahead of the Fourth of July.
The Ambiance Owners’ Association instructed its residents to take down any flags, not just US flags, displayed on “common area” spaces such as garage doors or front doors. While many residents have complied with this new directive and either moved their flags to back yards or removed them altogether, residents of two households are refusing.
Amy and Chris Cooke alleged their decision to fly the flag is in honor of his grandfather, a World War II veteran who died in the 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf against Japan.
“He was awarded the Navy Cross and also the Purple Heart. We’ve always been very proud of his legacy as a defender of our freedom,” Chris told ABC 10 in an article published on Friday, June 26.
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Meanwhile, resident Terri Collins says she’s leaving her flag up, saying she won’t be “bullied” into taking it down. According to The California Post, Collins believes the law is on her side, citing The Freedom to fly the American Flag Act, which was passed by Congress in 2005 and prevents HOAs and similar bodies from denying residents the right to fly an American Flag. However, that law specifically mentions that HOAs do have the right to restrict the location and the size of the flags it allows on residents’ properties.
Since the Cookes and Collins are not being told they cannot display their flags, just where they can display them, the HOA doesn’t run afoul of this law. Still, the two households claim that this is an anti-American gesture, citing a letter they reportedly received from the association ahead of the 2024 election.
“Once the members allow use of a common property by an owner to express what is essentially a political or affiliative view in a flag, other owners will want to do the same and the common area will degrade,” the letter, reportedly obtained by the California Post, reads.
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Collins alleged a majority of the HOA’s seven members “are not pro-American — except two but they are outnumbered.”
The residents will get to plead their case in an upcoming hearing with the HOA. In the meantime, both are on the hook for multiple fines of up to $100 each for not complying with the neighborhood’s directives on flags.
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