Southern California residents said they could be fined for displaying American flags outside their homes with the nation’s 250th birthday days away.

Amy and Chris Cooke reportedly received notice from the Ambiance Owners’ Association alleging that their flag broke the rules and must come down, with a board hearing scheduled for June 30 and a $100 penalty pending, according to ABC10 News. The association claimed the flag was displayed at the common-area fascia, which its policy bars. Amy said it’s displayed on their garage door frame.

The couple said they have flown the flag for over two decades to commemorate Chris Cooke’s grandfather, Alexander Christie, a Navy sailor who lost his life aboard the USS Princeton during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in World War II, the Daily Wire reported. Christie was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart after trying to save his comrades. (RELATED: Hoover Dam Adorned With Football Field-Sized American Flag Ahead of 250th Celebration)

The association built its case on a flag policy adopted in 2024 that prohibited residential displays. A memo from the HOA‘s management cited its attorney alleging that letting one owner express “what is effectively a political or affiliative view in a flag, sign, or banner” would lead others to want to follow and cause the common area to deteriorate, according to inewsource. The document was released before President Donald Trump won the 2024, election, the Daily Wire reported.

Records revealed the matter goes back to a May 2023 notice telling one resident that only the American flag could hang on common property, according to Fox News Digital. However, the HOA alleged that the Cookes violated in the policy with an American flag in a notice issued in May 2026 telling them to remove it within 15 days, the outlet reported.

Some San Marcos residents are preparing for a battle with their HOA board just days before America’s 250th birthday after being threatened with $100 fines for having American flags displayed outside their townhouses. https://t.co/ZcfCjIQ2eh

— ABC 10News San Diego (@10News) June 27, 2026

In 2005, Congress passed the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act, which typically stops associations from banning the flag while permitting limits on size and placement. Michael Kushner, an Aliso Viejo HOA attorney, told the Daily Wire the association is “barking up the wrong tree” and “the law is crystal clear.”

The dispute reaches past the Cookes. Neighbor Terri Collins said she got the same notice for a flag she said has flown for 35 years, according to 10News. “I’m not taking my flag down,” Collins told the Daily Wire. “They can fine me, $100, $200, $1,000, I’m not paying it.”

The Cookes said they have spent two years studying California law, and they are seeking to raise funds to fight the legal battle if it heads to court, Fox News Digital reported.