SC has no flagpole statute, so federal law is the whole of it — and the FCC antenna rule has not been amended since 2023
SC has no flagpole statute, so federal law is the whole of it — and the FCC antenna rule has not been amended since 2023
2026-09-19 · South Carolina · Compliance
Two federal rules do most of the work on antennas and flags in South Carolina community associations, because the state has legislated in this area exactly once, in 2002. Neither federal rule changed this year.
OTARD: last amended April 10, 2023
The FCC's over-the-air reception devices rule, 47 CFR § 1.4000, carries a source-and-amendment line ending at 88 FR 21435, April 10, 2023. The regulation as currently in force shows no 2025 or 2026 amendment.1
The rule expressly names "homeowners' association rule[s]" among the restrictions it preempts. It covers direct broadcast satellite dishes one metre or less, fixed wireless antennas one metre or less, television broadcast antennas of any size, and the masts supporting them.
Its boundary is the one that decides cases: it applies only to areas within the antenna user's exclusive use or control. A restriction "impairs" if it unreasonably delays or prevents installation, unreasonably increases cost, or precludes reception of an acceptable-quality signal.
What that means for a South Carolina regime
A condominium regime cannot bar a dish on a homeowner's own balcony, patio or exclusive-use limited common element, and cannot impose a fee or a pre-approval requirement that delays installation. It can restrict placement on true common elements — a roof, an exterior wall, common grounds.
The provision most often missed is the 2021 amendment extending OTARD to fixed wireless hub and relay antennas. That change is now five years old and still catches boards out, as fixed-wireless internet spreads across rural and coastal South Carolina.
The flag act, and the state gap beneath it
The Freedom to Display the American Flag Act, Pub. L. 109-243, July 24, 2006, 120 Stat. 572, is set out as a statutory note under 4 U.S.C. § 5 and has not been amended. Text current through September 18, 2026.2
It reaches associations by definition: "condominium association" and "cooperative association" by reference to 15 U.S.C. § 3603, and "residential real estate management association" by reference to 26 U.S.C. § 528 — which is what sweeps in an ordinary homeowners association.
An association may not adopt or enforce a policy preventing a member from displaying the United States flag on property the member owns. But it may impose "any reasonable restriction pertaining to the time, place, or manner of displaying the flag of the United States necessary to protect a substantial interest" of the association.
Why South Carolina boards get this wrong by importing other states' rules
Florida, Texas, Arizona, Idaho and Delaware have enacted flagpole statutes prescribing permitted pole heights, flag sizes and placements. South Carolina has not.
South Carolina's only statute is Section 27-1-60, enacted by 2002 Act No. 344, and it is narrow: regardless of any covenant or association document, a homeowner or tenant may display one portable, removable United States flag in a respectful manner.
One flag. The United States flag only. Portable and removable — which is not a flagpole.
The consequence is counter-intuitive: a South Carolina association retains broader authority over flagpole height, size and placement than an association in a neighbouring flagpole-statute state, because the federal act preserves reasonable time, place and manner restrictions and no state statute displaces them.
The expansions that died
Two bills would have widened Section 27-1-60 this term:
- S. 366 would have permitted up to two flags and extended the right to the South Carolina state flag, armed-services flags, the POW-MIA flag and a defined "first responder" flag. Referred to Senate Judiciary February 20, 2025; no further action.
- H. 4006 would have added the South Carolina state flag alongside the United States flag. Referred to House Judiciary February 13, 2025; no further action.
So a South Carolina owner flying the state flag, a service flag or a second United States flag is relying on the governing documents, not on a statutory right. See flag display in South Carolina and what else was in S. 366.
A related bill, also dead
H. 3753, the Amateur Radio Antenna Protection Act, would have conformed county ordinances to the FCC's amateur-radio preemption — a separate federal regime from OTARD, and the source of a recurring dispute over antenna restrictions in covenants. It was introduced January 15, 2025, referred to House Labor, Commerce and Industry, gained two sponsors on April 1, 2025, and died there.3
South Carolina therefore has no state statute on amateur radio antennas in covenanted communities, and no statute on religious displays — there is no South Carolina analogue to the mezuzah and religious-display statutes enacted in several other states. See religious displays.
Related South Carolina HOA Topics
Stay on top of South Carolina HOA law
Every week: new South Carolina legislation, court rulings, and regulatory developments affecting condos, planned communities, and property managers. Free.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.