President Bush Signs Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005
The Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 (H.R. 42), which grants homeowner residents the right to display the American flag, was signed into law by President Bush this afternoon. The provisions of this new law should sound familiar as the law is very similar to CCIOA's provision (added by SB 100) addressing this right.
Like Colorado law, this new federal law prohibits homeowner associations from banning its members from displaying the American flag on any property owned by the member or in that member's exclusive use (e.g. limited common elements like porches and patios.) Again, like Colorado law, associations are given the ability to implement reasonable regulations on the time, place, or manner of the display. With the enactment of SB 89, however, Colorado goes a step farther than federal law by explicitly granting unit occupants as well as owners the right to display the American flag.
This new law earned the praise of the Community Associations Institute (CAI) with its CEO Thomas M. Skiba commenting in a press release that the law achieves "a logical and balanced approach" by codifying "the right of residents to fly the flag, but also affirms the right of community associations to establish fair and reasonable limitations on how the flag is displayed."