Texas-based Navy veteran Gary Pirics is refuting his homeowners association’s request to properly fly his American flag in line with U.S. Flag Code and Texas Flag Regulations.
Pirics has been living in the Avery Ranch neighborhood in Austin since 2004 and “immediately after moving in” displayed the flag on a tree in his front yard, the veteran told “Fox & Friends” on Sunday.
“I did that because I’m a Navy veteran,” Pirics said. “The flag’s important to me for several reasons. One is both my father and my wife’s father were World War II veterans. I served in the United States Navy as an officer in Charleston, South Carolina, during the Vietnam War. So that flag does several things.”
He explained that he had “no trouble” with the flag’s location on his property for 17 years until he received a letter from the HOA in December stating that the flag violated the association’s policies and U.S. flag code.
“It just shows my pride in this country, which I think is the best country in the world,” Pirics added.
Avery Ranch HOA board member Brandon Pray, a retired U.S. Army Sergeant, told Fox News in a statement that the HOA requested Pirics fly his flag in line with multiple local and national codes.
“No individual was ever told to remove the United States Flag, the State Flag, or Military Flags,” Brandon Pray, a retired U.S. Army Sergeant and treasurer of the Avery Ranch HOA, told Fox News in a statement. “The Individuals were requested to fly the flag in accordance with the HOA Policy, Texas Property Code 202, Texas Flag Regulations 3100, and the US Flag code.”
These state and federal regulations outline how and when an American flag can be flown.
The statement continued: “The individuals were requested to display the flag by mounting it in an approved fashion. It was to be mounted from a Building or from a Stationary Flagpole in the open. Proper illumination was also requested. Our flag policy is derived from the Freedom Flag act of 2005. Our flag policy maintains the customary methods of display as listed in that Act. The Flag should always be flown and displayed appropriately, to honor the Flag and those who sacrificed their lives for our great nation.”
Pray told Fox News that Pirics has requested a hearing with the HOA that will be discussed at the board’s next meeting on Monday.
Pirics was not the only individual whom the association contacted about proper placement of the flag, and the HOA held an open meeting two weeks ago during which members discussed the issue and the association “requested that each party please submit a request to our independent resident committee for a variance,” Pray said.
*story by Fox News
