Did this HOA go too far

Even if the HOA's bylaws were approved when the community was handed over from the developer to the residents back whenever, that clause can't stand. They cannot tell you what can be displayed inside your house. That's been decided long ago in the courts:

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The ribbon has nothing to do with the "protection, preservation, or proper operation" of her condo.

 

It is against Federal Law for an HOA to ban such a ribbon as long as it is entirely within the confines of the individual's personal property.

Although some HOA's have attempted to place such bans as are cited in the OP's reference, such bans will not hold up in a Federal Court of Law, due primarily to the enactment of the Federal Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 (A/K/A Public Law 109-243) that has been in effect as of July 24, 2006.

If anyone is interested in reading the actual text of Public Law 109-243, he or she can contact the office(s) of his or her particular US Representative or US Senator. To expedite a reply about this, one should always refer to Public Law 109-243 when communicating with your Federal elected official's office staff.

 

Simply awesome reporting. We get a 1 second view of the offending ribbon in an small inset picture-in-picture photo. Way to go!

Anyway, the ribbon appears to violate the HOA, so no, they didn't go too far.