Florida Law on the Confederate Flag

Florida Statute Section 256.10 provides as follows:

256.10 Mutilation or disrespect for Confederate flags or replicas.- No person shall publicly mutilate, deface, defile, defy, trample upon, or by word or act cast contempt upon the flags of the Confederacy, or replicas thereof, for crass or commercial purposes; provided however that nothing contained herein shall be construed to prevent or prohibit the use of such flags for decorate (sic) or patriotic purposes.

The foregoing statute does not specifically provide that a resident in an HOA is entitled to fly a Confederate flag. The statute does prohibit certain disrespectful handling of such a flag and clarifies that flying a Confederate flag for decorative or patriotic purpose does not constitute casting contempt or disrespect upon that flag. [Donna Berger of Becker & Polikoff]