Cary Man Says Subdivision Is Preventing Him From Flying Patriotic Colors

Al Martin recently retired from the National Guard. He believes 20 years of military service gives him the right to display the American flag in his front yard without any flack from the Williamsburg Commons Neighborhood Association.

"It's the flag, a symbol of our country," Martin says. "I think what we're doing is we're legislating out of our civil rights and civil liberties. That's my feeling."

The neighborhood association says flags of any kind are not permitted in the front yard, only on the side or in the back.

Billy Yarborough has lived in the neighborhood for ten years. He says the neighborhood is patterned, right down to the window shutters and street signs, after colonial Williamsburg. He says the strict covenants are for that reason.

"It's the only way to maintain it," Yarborough says. "I'm not going to wake up tomorrow and see a red roof across. I'm not going to see a pink house tomorrow."

Martin says he did not ask permission to display the flag because he feels he does not have to.

Yarborough says he did not think the situation would go to court because Martin's house is up for sale.