Michigan HOA Flag Display

Section 1: Overview — Flag display rules for Michigan HOAs

Start with what Michigan actually guarantees. The state protects a single United States flag, no larger than 3 feet by 5 feet, displayed anywhere on the exterior of a condominium unit, under MCL 559.156a; because that statute reaches condominiums only, a non-condominium homeowners association draws its flag rules from federal law and from the recorded covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs).¹ Underneath everything sits the federal floor. The Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005, codified at 4 U.S.C. § 5, bars a covered association from restricting a member's display of the U.S. flag, and it applies in every Michigan community.² Michigan's only HOA-context flag statute is Section 56a of the Michigan Condominium Act, MCL 559.156a, and it too reaches condominiums alone.¹ Here is the wrinkle that trips people up: builders across Michigan organize many single-family communities as "site condominiums" rather than platted subdivisions, so neighborhoods that look like ordinary HOAs are frequently condominiums covered by MCL 559.156a.³ When a flag dispute breaks out, the association's internal process handles it first; if that fails, a Michigan circuit court decides it, with appeals running to the Michigan Court of Appeals and then the Michigan Supreme Court.⁴ The sections that follow lay out the federal floor, the state condominium statute, the role of the CC&Rs, what an association can and cannot do, and where Michigan stands nationally.

Quick-Reference: Flag display rules at a glance (Michigan)

Section 2: The legal framework

2A. The federal floor: Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005

The federal floor lives in 4 U.S.C. § 5, which carries the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-243, 120 Stat. 572), signed on July 24, 2006.² The Act tells a condominium association, a cooperative association, or a residential real estate management association what it may not do: it may not adopt or enforce any policy, or enter into any agreement, that restricts or prevents a member from displaying the flag of the United States on residential property the member separately owns or holds a right to possess or use exclusively.² Those three categories — condominium associations, cooperative associations, and residential real estate management associations, the last being the standard label for a homeowners association — sweep in essentially every community association form. The Act allows one carve-out, and only one: it does not permit a display inconsistent with the Federal Flag Code (4 U.S.C. ch. 1, §§ 1 to 10) or with a reasonable restriction on the time, place, or manner of display necessary to protect a substantial interest of the association.² The Act reaches only the flag of the United States, defined by reference to 4 U.S.C. § 3; it says nothing about a state flag, a military flag, or any other flag. And here is the limit that matters most: the Act supplies no enforcement mechanism and no private right of action. A federal court said so directly in Murphree v. Tides Condominium at Sweetwater by Del Webb Master Homeowners' Ass'n, No. 3:13-cv-713-J34MCR (M.D. Fla. 2014), holding that the Act "does not provide any enforcement mechanism, or explicitly create a private right of action for individuals such as Murphree to bring a lawsuit against a condominium association."⁷ So enforcement runs through state law and the recorded governing documents, not a federal suit.

2B. Michigan's condominium flag statute, MCL 559.156a

Michigan's flag statute is Section 56a of the Michigan Condominium Act, MCL 559.156a, added by Public Act 183 of 1991 and immediately effective December 27, 1991.¹ The text runs short: "A developer or association of co-owners shall not prohibit a co-owner from displaying a single United States flag of a size not greater than 3 feet by 5 feet anywhere on the exterior of the co-owner's condominium unit. A developer or association of co-owners shall not enforce a prohibition in existence before the effective date of this section on or after that effective date."¹ Two features define its reach. First, it protects a single U.S. flag no larger than 3 feet by 5 feet, and nothing else. It does not protect the Michigan state flag, a military or uniformed-services flag, a POW-MIA flag, a first-responder flag, a decorative or message flag, or a thin blue line flag — which is not a U.S. flag under 4 U.S.C. § 1, because it substitutes black and blue for the statutory red, white, and blue.⁶ Second, its scope is condominium-only. The Michigan Condominium Act, and therefore MCL 559.156a, governs condominiums; it does not reach a non-condominium homeowners association, whose only flag protection is the federal act plus its CC&Rs.⁸ A 2018 bill, House Bill 5440, with companion House Bill 5540, would have barred a Michigan homeowners or neighborhood association from prohibiting display of the U.S. flag or the Michigan state flag; the House Local Government Committee received it, and it never became law.^9,10 Treat it as historical context, not enacted law.

Site condominiums are the reason this scope question is not academic. Michigan uses the site condominium — a development of single-family detached dwellings — extensively. As the Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency put it in its enacted analysis of Senate Bill 23 (completed January 15, 2026), "municipalities commonly use site condominiums instead of plats to achieve basically the same legal result of dividing real estate into separate residential building sites without spending as much time or money as the platting process."¹¹ The state's Condominium Buyer's Handbook makes the same point: "'Site condominium' is not defined in the Condominium Act. It is used to describe a condominium development with single-family detached housing instead of two or more housing units in one structure. Site condominium developments must comply with the Act."³ A site condominium is therefore a condominium covered by MCL 559.156a even though it looks like a conventional subdivision. So classify the community first — condominium (including site condominium) versus true non-condominium HOA — before you apply or decline the statute. The protected display area varies too. MCL 559.156a protects display "on the exterior of the co-owner's condominium unit," and MCL 559.104(3) defines "condominium unit" as the portion of the project designed and intended for separate ownership and use "as described in the master deed."⁵ For a site condominium the unit may take in the lot; for an attached condominium it may cover only a porch, patio, or balcony. The master deed draws the boundary, and the boundary sets the protected area.

2C. The governing framework and CC&Rs

The Michigan Condominium Act (MCL 559.101 et seq., Public Act 59 of 1978) governs condominiums, including site condominiums, and it holds the flag provision.⁸ Most associations, condominium and non-condominium alike, also organize as nonprofit corporations under the Michigan Nonprofit Corporation Act (MCL 450.2101 et seq.), which governs corporate structure, meetings, voting, and director duties.¹² Michigan has no comprehensive non-condominium HOA statute, so non-condominium planned communities rely on their recorded CC&Rs, common law, and nonprofit corporate law. Michigan is not a UCIOA state; it keeps its own Condominium Act and has not adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act. The recorded CC&Rs govern every flag that MCL 559.156a does not protect — the Michigan state flag, military, POW-MIA, first-responder, service, decorative, and message flags — and they govern all flags in a non-condominium HOA beyond the federal U.S.-flag floor. Precedence runs in this order: federal law and, for condominiums, MCL 559.156a; then the recorded declaration or master deed; then the bylaws; then the rules. In practice, a property manager first classifies the community as a condominium (including a site condominium) or a non-condominium HOA, applies MCL 559.156a only to condominiums, applies the federal U.S.-flag floor to both, and reads the CC&Rs for every other flag.

Section 3: What a Michigan association can and cannot do

A. Flags the association must permit

Every covered association must permit display of the U.S. flag on the member's own property or area of exclusive possession, subject only to reasonable restrictions (federal law, 4 U.S.C. § 5).² In a condominium, the association must also permit a single U.S. flag up to 3 feet by 5 feet anywhere on the exterior of the unit, and it may not enforce a pre-1991 prohibition (Michigan statute, MCL 559.156a).¹ No Michigan statute compels an association to permit any other flag, and no Michigan statute reaches a non-condominium HOA beyond the federal U.S.-flag floor.

B. Reasonable restrictions the association may impose

In a condominium, the association may adopt rules that regulate but do not prohibit the protected U.S. flag, and it may set size, number, placement, and flagpole rules on all other flags through the CC&Rs (Michigan statute, MCL 559.156a; CC&Rs).¹ In a non-condominium HOA, the association may impose reasonable time, place, and manner rules on the U.S. flag consistent with the federal act, and CC&R-based rules on every other flag (federal law, 4 U.S.C. § 5; CC&Rs).² The line in a condominium holds firm: a rule may not prohibit the single protected U.S. flag or shrink the protected area below the unit exterior as the master deed defines it (Michigan statute, MCL 559.156a; MCL 559.104(3)).⁵

C. Actions the association may not take

A condominium association may not prohibit a single U.S. flag up to 3 feet by 5 feet on the unit exterior, nor enforce a prohibition that predates the statute (Michigan statute, MCL 559.156a).¹ No association, condominium or HOA, may adopt or enforce a U.S.-flag rule inconsistent with the federal act (federal law, 4 U.S.C. § 5).² And an association may not enforce any flag rule selectively or as a pretext; Michigan courts require associations to apply governing-document restrictions evenhandedly (CC&Rs; Michigan statute, Michigan Condominium Act).⁸

D. Enforcement and dispute resolution

The federal act provides no private right of action, so an owner cannot sue an association in federal court under it (federal law, 4 U.S.C. § 5; Murphree v. Tides).⁷ A Michigan flag dispute resolves through the association's internal process and, if necessary, a Michigan circuit court — the trial court of general jurisdiction — with appeals to the Michigan Court of Appeals and then, by leave, the Michigan Supreme Court (Michigan statute, Michigan Condominium Act; CC&Rs).⁴ Michigan runs no HOA regulator and no ombudsman; disputes go to the courts. Enforcement usually arises through the association's fining authority: a condominium association may fine a co-owner only where the governing documents authorize it and only after the required notice and hearing, and it may treat an unpaid fine as a lienable assessment only if the documents expressly say so (Michigan statute, Michigan Condominium Act; CC&Rs).⁸

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

Michigan's flag-specific activity is light, and the condominium flag rule, MCL 559.156a, has stood unchanged since it took effect on December 27, 1991.¹

A. Recent bills

No bill introduced in the Michigan Legislature in the past 24 months would create or amend a flag-display rule for community associations. For historical context, House Bill 5440 and companion House Bill 5540 of 2018 would have barred a homeowners or neighborhood association from prohibiting display of the U.S. flag or the Michigan state flag on private property; both went to committee, and neither became law.^9,10 They earn a mention only because a homeowner or board may still run across references to them. They are not enacted law, and they impose no obligation.

B. Recent rulings

No published Michigan appellate decision in the past 36 months applies the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act, MCL 559.156a, or resolves a U.S.-flag CC&R dispute. The closest reported activity concerns political flags rather than the U.S. flag: Hirzel Law, a Michigan community-association firm, reports that its office obtained an Oakland County Circuit Court order requiring a co-owner to remove two political flags from a condominium unit — consistent with the settled rule that constitutional free-speech protections do not bind a private association.⁶ That is a firm-reported trial-level matter, not a published appellate holding, and it does not change the flag rule.

C. Active legislative debates

No active flag-display legislative debate is underway in Michigan. Recent community-association attention has instead centered on solar energy: the Homeowners' Energy Policy Act, MCL 559.301 et seq., took effect April 1, 2025, and requires each association to adopt a written solar energy policy statement — a development unrelated to flags.¹³

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Michigan sits toward the narrow end of the national spectrum: it protects only the U.S. flag, and its statute speaks to condominiums rather than to HOAs directly. That sets it apart from the narrow U.S.-flag statutes that reach homeowners associations head-on, such as Alabama (Ala. Code § 35-1-5)¹⁴, Louisiana (La. R.S. 9:1114, enacted 2025 and applying prospectively)¹⁵, and Maryland (Md. Code, Real Property § 14-128)¹⁶. It also contrasts with content-neutral states such as Colorado (C.R.S. § 38-33.3-106.5)¹⁷; with broad enumerated-list states such as Arizona, Florida (Fla. Stat. § 720.304)¹⁸, and Idaho (Idaho Code § 55-3210)¹⁹; with moderate two-flag states such as Connecticut (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-261b)²⁰ and Kansas (through the Kansas Uniform Common Interest Owners Bill of Rights Act); and with federal-floor-only states such as Alaska, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, and Massachusetts. For a multi-state operator, the takeaway is practical: in Michigan you first determine whether the community is a condominium (including a site condominium), apply MCL 559.156a only there, and otherwise apply the federal floor and read the CC&Rs. Because the federal U.S.-flag floor is identical in every state, the U.S.-flag answer does not change at the Michigan border; only the state-law overlay does.

HOA Weekly's Michigan Flag Display coverage updates quarterly as the Michigan Legislature and the Michigan appellate courts act. Federal frameworks — the flag act, plus the FHA, ADA, FDCPA, SCRA, and the OTARD rule — apply to Michigan associations regardless of the state framework.

Footnotes

1. Mich. Comp. Laws § 559.156a, Displaying United States Flag on Condominium Unit (added by 1991 Pub. Act 183, imd. eff. Dec. 27, 1991) (Michigan Legislature) ↩
2. 4 U.S.C. § 5, statutory note, Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-243, 120 Stat. 572 (Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. Code) ↩
3. The Condominium Buyer's Handbook, Mich. Dep't of Licensing & Regulatory Affairs (LARA) (site-condominium definition) ↩
4. About the Court of Appeals (Michigan Courts) (circuit court (trial), Court of Appeals (intermediate), Supreme Court) ↩
5. Mich. Comp. Laws § 559.104(3), Definitions (Michigan Legislature) (defining "condominium unit" as described in the master deed) ↩
6. 4 U.S.C. § 1, Flag; stripes and stars (Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. Code) (statutory definition distinguishing the U.S. flag from a thin blue line flag); Federal Flag Code, 4 U.S.C. ch. 1 ↩
7. Murphree v. Tides Condominium at Sweetwater by Del Webb Master Homeowners' Ass'n, No. 3:13-cv-713-J-34MCR (M.D. Fla. Apr. 1, 2014) ↩
8. Michigan Condominium Act, Mich. Comp. Laws § 559.101 et seq. (1978 Pub. Act 59) (Michigan Legislature) ↩
9. H.B. 5440, 99th Leg., Reg. Sess. (Mich. 2018) (referred to House Local Government Committee; not enacted) ↩
10. H.B. 5540, 99th Leg., Reg. Sess. (Mich. 2018) (companion to H.B. 5440; not enacted) ↩
11. S.B. 23 Bill Analysis (as enacted), Senate Fiscal Agency, completed Jan. 15, 2026 (Michigan Legislature) ↩
12. Michigan Nonprofit Corporation Act, Mich. Comp. Laws § 450.2101 et seq. (1982 Pub. Act 162) (Michigan Legislature) ↩
13. Homeowners' Energy Policy Act, Mich. Comp. Laws § 559.301 et seq. (Michigan Legislature) (eff. Apr. 1, 2025) ↩
14. Ala. Code § 35-1-5 (U.S. flag display; voids conflicting covenants) (reproduced via Justia) ↩
15. La. Rev. Stat. § 9:1114, Freedom to Display the Flag of the United States (enacted by 2025 La. Act 224) (Louisiana Legislature) ↩
16. Md. Code, Real Prop. § 14-128 (U.S. flag; condominiums, HOAs, cooperatives) (Maryland General Assembly) ↩
17. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-33.3-106.5 (content-neutral flag and sign rule) (Colorado General Assembly law summary) ↩
18. Fla. Stat. § 720.304 (U.S., Florida, armed-forces, and POW-MIA flags, plus flagpole right) (The Florida Senate) ↩
19. Idaho Code § 55-3210 (enumerated list: U.S., Idaho, POW/MIA, and armed-forces flags) (Idaho State Legislature) ↩
20. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-261b (U.S. and Connecticut state flags) (Connecticut General Assembly, Common Interest Ownership Act, ch. 828) ↩