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Patriotic Californians are in uproar after their homeowners association demanded they take down their Stars and Stripes flags just days before America’s 250th anniversary.
Married couple Amy and Chris Cooke, as well as their neighbor Terri Collins, were threatened with $100 fines last week if they did not remove Old Glory from outside their houses in San Marcos, San Diego County.
They claimed the HOA has been on a rampage since President Trump was reelected in 2024, harassing them for flying the banner on the quiet street where houses average just under $1 million.
The Cookes and Terri said they were furious and willing to suffer the consequences, but noted others in the area had buckled under the pressure from Ambiance Owners’ Association and removed them.
In an astonishing letter from before the 2024 election, the HOA board argued the flag represented a “political or affiliative view” which will “degrade the common area.”
Amy, 62, a supervised visitation monitor for children, told the California Post: “We are outraged, if you want to fly your flag fly it, this is America. We are the land of the free and home of the brave, this is crazy.”
She added: “The American Flag is a symbol of freedom, we know where their brain is at.”
The Cookes have flown the US Flag in front of their home for 20 years, with Chris revealing it was in honor of his grandfather Alexander Christie who died in the Second World War.
The Navy sailor was killed in the 1944 Battle of Leyte Ship against Japan — the biggest naval fight in history — where his ship the USS Princeton was sank.
He was awarded Navy Purple Heart and Navy Cross for his bravery. “He died trying to rescue people,” Chris, a 56-year-old wine distributor, said.
His mother was just one month old when her father died. He said: “The generational impact was substantial, my grandmother was suddenly a widowed and a single mother.”
The couple says the war with the HOA started around the 2024 election when they received a letter from the Ambiance Board of Directors restricting areas to fly the stars and stripes.
It limited them to only fly it in “exclusive use” areas, such as their backyards. Common areas such as the front of the house were off-limits.
The letter, obtained by the California Post, said: “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.”
Subsequent responses fined the couple $100 for the flag being outside the front of their home, its size and for displaying it in “common areas.”
The Freedom to fly the American Flag Act was passed by Congress in 2005, stopping HOAs for prohibiting the US Flag being flown on homes.
But they are allowed to regulate the way it is displayed, including decisions about size, location and the structural details of the pole or mount.
Terri has flown hers for 35 years and received the same notice as the Cookes. She said the neighborhood is very patriotic and rooted in military service “because we are close to the old Miramar Navy Base, all the Top Gun pilots lived here.”
She told The Post: “Different political opinions should have nothing to do with it.” She continued: “We have the ability to hang a flag on our palm trees. I’m buying a giant flag, and I mean giant.”
Terri claimed the majority of the seven board members “are not pro American — except two but they are outnumbered.”
The letter saying homeowners cannot fly flags in the common areas and issuing fines have scared some of their neighbors.
Terri said she has seen flags come down over the past couple months one by one. Only the Cooke and her Stars and Stripes are still flying in front of their houses.
Terri added: “I’m not taking my flag down. They can fine me, $100, $200, $1,000, I’m not paying it.”
The Cookes have been granted a 15-minute Zoom hearing with the board on Tuesday. If they do not convince them to back down they said they plan to set up a crowdfunding page to retain a lawyer.
Chris said: “We’ve never sued anyone in our life. 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.”
Despite the board’s attack, both the Cookes and Terri plan on celebrating the Fourth of July and America’s 250th birthday in style.
The Cookes will celebrate in the traditional style they have for years, by hitting the community pool, playing cards, having a BBQ and watching the community fireworks show.
Chris added: “Don’t forget the apple pie for dessert.”
The Post reached out to the Ambiance HOA for comment but did not hear back.
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