Yes, and if the Air Force veteran has his way, the Stars and Stripes will fly for a long time outside his Draper town house - despite management rules forbidding his display.

"They're just telling me that it's against their policy to allow flags to be mounted to the house," he said Friday.

A representative of Community Management, which oversees the Village Townhomes said he did not wish to comment on Capito's display, but he did say the situation is "not a flag issue," adding that the management was working with its attorney on the matter.

Capito, who was stationed for four years with the Air Force in west Texas, returned home to Utah and, in January, moved to 14082 Pepi Band Lane in Draper. He flies Old Glory to support his two best friends who are serving in the military in Iraq.

Now Capito fears his patriotism is unwelcome and contends his flag display is being treated unfairly.

"There are several houses that have satellite dishes, terra cotta tops mounted on their house, and one guy has a horse figurine," Capito said. "So apparently that's OK, but you can't have a flag mounted. And they seem to turn a blind eye to the other stuff, so I feel like I'm being singled out."

He says the flag flap began last week when management started calling and sending letters asking him to retire the flag.

"They've told me if they allow the American flag to go up, they might as well allow a swastika," he said. "They're equating our flag with the Nazis."

Capito has filed an application asking the homeowners association to approve his display but said he was told that it would not likely be approved.

"One management guy just said this same thing has come up before and they have not allowed it," he said.

Meanwhile, Capito says the homeowners association has threatened to have someone remove his flag and take a lien against his house for the cost to do so.

But Capito sees the law as on his side. Two years ago, President Bush signed the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act, which was intended to safeguard such displays.

Capito also says he has spoken with Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, and his staff lawyers who "indicated that I have the absolute right to the use of the outside of my house."

This is not the first time a Utahn has had issues with a flag display.

In 1999, a Salt Lake Valley condominium ordered a Vietnam veteran to remove the U.S. flag and POW/MIA banner he had lofted on a makeshift flagpole in his backyard.

The newest tussle could come up Tuesday, when Village Townhomes holds a homeowners association meeting at 5:30 p.m. at the Draper Library.

"The law really is on my side," Capito says. "There's not a lot they can do."

sgehrke@sltrib.com