CSB time: There are several self appointed lawn-Nazis in my neighborhood. For a while they were constantly complaining to the HOA about my flags. I got the nasty letters telling me my Betsy Ross and thin blue line flags were not within the rules. The rules mirror state statute which allows for nine flags (US flag, State Flag, POW/MIA, and the military branch flags). So, I complied and only flew the US flag until FJB was installed. Then I switched to just flying the state flag. Then they began to complain about the way I displayed the flag, trying to say I wasn't in compliance with HOA rules because I didn't mount the flag pole holder to my house. I have a 4X4 post about two feet off the house I use so the flag flys free and doesn’t get wrapped around the roof edge/eve. I've used the post to mount the flag for 15 years and it only became an issue last year.
I finally had a meeting with the Chairman of the HOA over the complaints. I told him that I had read their rules, consulted with an attorney who specializes in HOA law and that I was in compliance.
I also informed him that I had video from my home security system showing the complainers in my front yard as they walked up to my flag to hold it open so they could get a better look at it. One of the videos showed my wife arguing with one of the neighbors because he thought he had a right to come into the yard. I let him know that I would be calling the sheriff's office to get a trespass warning for that neighbor.
The HOA chairman agreed that I was in compliance with the state flag and the way I was flying it. He said he would take care of the complaints and asked me not to call the sheriff's office on the idiot in the yard. Turns out, several of the more ignorant, transplanted from some northern state, busybodies lost their minds over the state flag. They complained because they though I was flying some kind of Civil War (racist) battle flag. They moved to Florida and had no idea what the state flag looked like. They also had no idea what the rules really said and that the flag I was flying is codified by state statute.
Now, in addition to the state flag, I will fly the service flags. Primarily the Army and Air Force flags, because those are the branches my father and I served in, but I will rotate other service flags in just to mess with them. Some of the idiot neighbors are befuddled by the Space Force flag and the black POW/MIA flag. They still complain, but the HOA chairman knows I am following the rules.