A Southern California homeowners association is facing mounting backlash after threatening residents with fines for displaying American flags outside their homes just days before the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary.
Several homeowners in San Marcos, California, say the Ambiance Owners’ Association ordered them to remove the Stars and Stripes from the front of their homes or face $100 fines, igniting a dispute that some residents say is about far more than neighborhood rules.
“I’m not taking my flag down,” resident Terri Collins said. “They can fine me, $100, $200, $1,000, I’m not paying it.”
Collins said she has proudly flown the American flag outside her home for 35 years and described the neighborhood as deeply patriotic because of its proximity to the former Miramar Naval Air Station, the original home of the Navy’s famed TOPGUN school.
“All the Top Gun pilots lived here,” she said.
Amy and Chris Cooke also received notices from the HOA after displaying a flag outside their townhouse. The couple said they’ve flown the flag for more than two decades to honor Chris’ grandfather, Alexander Christie, a Navy sailor who was killed aboard the USS Princeton during the Battle of Leyte Gulf while attempting to rescue fellow sailors. Christie was posthumously awarded both the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart.
“We’ve always been very proud of his legacy as a defender of our freedom,” Chris Cooke told ABC affiliate KGTV.
According to the homeowners, the HOA has intensified enforcement of its flag policy since President Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory. They say several neighbors removed their flags after receiving warning letters threatening fines.
In correspondence sent to residents before the 2024 election, the HOA argued that allowing flags in common areas could invite other forms of expression.
“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 board wrote.
The association maintains that American flags may only be displayed in “exclusive use” areas, such as backyards or patios, and says front-facing common areas violate HOA rules. The Cookes were specifically cited over the size and placement of their flag.
The dispute comes despite federal protections for homeowners.
Congress passed the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act in 2006, prohibiting homeowners associations from outright banning the American flag while still allowing “reasonable restrictions” regarding its size, placement, and method of display. California law similarly protects homeowners’ rights to display the U.S. flag in their separate-interest property and exclusive-use common areas, subject to reasonable safety-related regulations.
HOA attorney Michael Kushner, who was not involved in the dispute, believes the residents have the stronger legal argument.
“The law is crystal clear,” Kushner said. The HOA is “barking up the wrong tree.”
“I would tell these people to stand firm and under no circumstances should they remove that flag,” he added. “HOAs count on the fact that homeowners don’t know better and might be scared.”
David Loy, legal director for the First Amendment Coalition, likewise told KGTV that while HOAs may adopt reasonable rules governing flag displays, they generally cannot prohibit homeowners from displaying the American flag on their own property.
Amy Cooke said the HOA’s actions have left residents stunned.
“We are outraged. If you want to fly your flag, fly it. This is America,” she told the California Post. “We are the land of the free and home of the brave. This is crazy.”
The Cookes met with the HOA board on Tuesday and say they are prepared to take legal action if the association refuses to reverse course.
“We’ve never sued anyone in our life,” Chris Cooke said. “We’re just here to fly our flag and be left alone. There’s enough division. We shouldn’t have to do this, but we don’t want to be pushed into submission.”
The controversy has also drawn political attention.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton blasted the HOA’s position, saying he hopes “everyone in that neighborhood not only ignores their HOA but doubles and trebles the number of American flags they display on this very special anniversary for our nation.”
Despite the ongoing dispute, Collins and the Cookes say they have no plans to take down Old Glory before Independence Day.
“There’s a significant difference between some random flag for whatever you support and the American flag, the symbol of our country,” Amy Cooke said. “It’s not just a flag. It’s a symbol.”
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