There is a guy that lives up the street from me that has a flagpole in his front yard that is about twenty feet high that he keeps an American Flag flying from, properly lighted every day of the year except if he is going to be out of town for a great length of time or if there is going to be really bad weather where the flag could get damaged.
Now, I live in a good neighborhood but this guy is filthy rich yet he lives in a house that he could probably buy three of without breaking a sweat. One time I asked him why he didn’t move into a more affluent neighborhood and he pointed up at his flag.
He went onto explain that he almost moved into a part of town that had an HOA but when he read the agreement from the HOA that would prevent him from flying an American Flag every day of the year if he so chose to he went and bought the house in our still very nice part of town. If you wish to own a flag of your own you can learn about some benefits of telescoping flagpoles. The other upside he said, was the really nice motor home he got to buy with all of the money he saved from moving into that other part of town.
A homeowners association’s edict regarding how often people are allowed to fly U.S. flags on their own properties is causing controversy in Georgia.
Fox News reported that the association, in Cherokee County’s Village at Towne Lake, recently sent residents an email ordering them to display their flags no more than 23 days per year to “maintain the aesthetic and architectural theme of the community.” Some of those affected by the rule are fighting back.
“You don’t mess with my flag,” U.S. Navy veteran Tom Wilder told a local Fox affiliate. “I was extremely upset. That’s a polite way of putting it. … They are giving us 23 days to display it. Now we won’t be able to even put it in the ground. It has to be in a flag holder attached to our houses.” Wilder explained that most of the days when flag flying is allowed are holidays. He argued that “we should be able to put up the flag anytime we want.” Oddly, flags are permitted on Mother’s Day, but not Father’s Day.
The veteran indicated he has no intention of giving in to the association, which he threatened to sue. When a reporter asked whether he planned to comply with the flag order, he responded: “When I’m dead. … I’m not gonna take it down. I fought for our flag and our country, and I will continue to fight for our flag and our country – no matter what.”
One of Wilder’s neighbors, Pete Rockett, also expressed outrage. “How can you say that the American flag detracts from the looks, the aesthetics of a community,” the former Air Force member asked. “They treat it … as if it’s a decoration – like Christmas decorations. ‘You can put up your Christmas decorations on these days.’ The American flag is not a decoration. It’s a symbol, and it’s a symbol of a lot of things, to a lot of people.”