Can political flags fly in Hilton Head’s largest gated community? It’s complicated
A group of neighbors in Hilton Head Plantation on the island’s north end are crying foul over a flag flying in their community, citing the neighborhood’s governing rules that prohibit signs.
But the homeowner, who hung a Trump 2020 flag from his home several weeks ago, says rooting for the president is just like rooting for sports teams such as the Clemson Tigers or the Green Bay Packers, and he should be allowed to fly his flag to support his candidate.
The issue brings to the forefront the strict rules imposed, but not often enumerated, in private communities and illuminates the political climate of a country divided as Election Day approaches.
“Regardless of the political affiliation, a political banner surely should not be allowed to be displayed in our community. There is enough divisiveness in our country, we do not need to put it on display in (Hilton Head Plantation),” bicyclist Jean Lerner wrote to the community’s general manager after encountering the flag on a ride.
General Manager Peter Kristian wrote back that “folks fly flags which included the American Flag, college team, professional sports team, college, holiday etc. There is nothing in the covenant on content,” he wrote, referring to the community’s governing documents, which prohibit signage but not other political messages. Flags poles must be approved by the architectural review board, and flags are limited to a specific size.
Reached Thursday, Kristian said he and the community’s lawyers have no authority to ban certain flags but not others.
The community can “either ban all flags except for the American flag or allow all flags. If you start to carve out which ones are appropriate you go down a very slippery slope.”
While some communities on the island have explicitly banned political messaging, Hilton Head Plantation’s covenants do not address the issue. However, signs such as real estate signs, political signs or other advertisements are prohibited.
In the few months leading up to Election Day, the disagreements over Trump flags may show political differences, but the debates also show a shift from adhering to unwritten rules that often accompany property ownership in private communities to using one’s property to express their opinions.
A West Virginia family staying in Sea Pines in mid-July was asked to take down their Trump flags after Sea Pines security told them there was a complaint from a beachgoer. Sea Pines wouldn’t comment on the matter, but prohibits flags with “disparaging” messages.
One of the family’s flags included the phrase “No more bull----.”
In recent weeks, Trump flags have been seen flying over rental homes on North Forest Beach.
On July 5, a Trump boat parade on Lake Murray attracted thousands to the Columbia-area reservoir to support the president’s re-election bid.
‘I’m a Trump fan. I’ll put up my flag’
Richard Thomas, who owns the Hilton Head Plantation home and flies his Trump flag happily, said he’s not trying to crusade for the First Amendment or shove his candidate in others’ faces.
“I’m not an ardent or strident Trump advocate at any cost kind of person, but I do favor him over anything I’ve seen on the other side,” Thomas said Thursday. “I liken (the flag) to the Green Bay Packers flag across the street. Fans of teams put flags up, and I’m a fan of the Trump team.”
Thomas said he wasn’t aware that he was the subject of online debate, but a friend of several decades recently refused to enter his home because of the flag.
He reported that someone wrote “IMPEACH” in sidewalk chalk on the road in front of his home. He took a broom and water to erase part of the letters so it read “PEACH.”
“I do consider it my prerogative of free speech but I don’t think about it that way,” he said. “I’m a Trump fan. I’ll put up my flag.”
But others think such flags have no place in the idyllic and often exclusive setting of a gated community on Hilton Head.
“None of us want to put political flags on our houses,” resident Joanne Burns said. “We like the fact that they’re not allowed. ... I would say the same if this were a Biden flag or anyone else.”
And some say Hilton Head Plantation’s covenants, which specify say where your fire pit can be and ban personal vegetable gardens, should go further so people can’t find loopholes.
“They can tell you you have to power wash your roof but we have nothing that says ‘you can’t have a political sign,’” Lerner said.
This story was originally published July 23, 2020 at 3:13 PM.
