A retired Georgia combat veteran has lost his fight to fly his American flag and U.S. Marine Corps colors outside his home in an Atlanta-area retirement community.

MyFoxAtlanta.com reports that the board of directors at Marine Capt. Jim Lowe's community in Griffin voted against changing a rule on outside decorations that threatened his patriotic display.

Sun City-Peachtree's codes state that each home in the retirement community can only have one flag, but Lowe fought the rule, arguing that the traditional Marine Corps battle color is not a flag.

Lowe told the station in July that he received a code violation notice from management informing him that he and his wife would face fines of up to $25 a day and a possible lien on his home if he did not remove one of the flags.

"When a bunch of arbitrary rules trump the Constitution, it's a sad date because indeed a piece of America is lost," Lowe told MyFoxAtlanta.com after the board made its decision.

The board released a statement to MyFoxAtlanta.com saying in part, "A recent poll of residents asking their opinion about a possible change in the number of flags permitted indicated no overwhelming preference for a change in the governing documents."

Lowe told the station that the board's decision is a game-changer and that he and his wife have no choice but to pack up and move out of the community.

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