If you reside in a Planned Community Association (PCA) and want to erect a flagpole on your front lawn to fly the American and/or Hawaii flags, you may be treated like a criminal and deterred from doing so.

The federal Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 actually says that a “;condominium association, cooperative association, or residential real estate management association may not adopt or enforce any policy, or enter into any agreement, that would restrict or prevent a member of the association from displaying the flag of the United States on residential property within the association with respect to which such member has a separate ownership interest of a right to exclusive possession or use.”;

The twist here, however, is that PCAs are in compliance because they allow the flag to be flown, albeit in the backyard or attached to the structure, yet denying flagpoles on the front of one's property where the flag and pole could be in view from the street.

House Bill 2311 proposes to expand the placement of the flag to where such placement is denied, but have each association determine where and how to accommodate the request for erecting the American or state flag on a pole in view.

HB 2311 would let the associations dictate what the poles should look like, how large the flags can be and where they can be positioned.

This is how the Legislature handled the placement of clotheslines in PCAs, enabling each association to make its own rules as to where a clothesline can be placed.

But when the flag bill was heard in the House Committee on Housing earlier this month, the chairwoman held the measure, saying that folks who fly a flag might fail to shine a light on it at night, or might allow tattered flags to fly, causing blight.

But, of course, PCAs do have enforcement capabilities, and a flag on a flagpole could be kept in check.

Currently, associations are fearful of letting residents fly the American flag, knowing that if they approve, someone might come forward and want to fly a flag with a swastika on it, or a skull and bones, or something else offensive. Then the association might get sued for discrimination. Thus, to avoid lawsuits, they reject all frontlawn flagpoles.

This is where HB 2311 comes to the rescue of Old Glory. The bill specifically states what flags can be erected on a pole — but it needs to get pulled out of committee for a floor vote. Certainly, the American flag should rise above laundry, shouldn't it?

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Tom Berg is the Ewa Neighborhood Board's legislative committee chairman and an aide to state Rep. Kymberly Pine.