The company pushing a member of the military to take down a Canadian flag said it's the pole that's the problem, not the maple leaf.

Maj. Michael Mitchell has been told the flag he put up on his Ottawa home last year has to come down because his condominium board does not allow anything to be attached to the front of their homes.

The property management company said Thursday it is not about the flag, but what it hangs on.

"It's about securing a pole to the exterior, to the common elements of the unit," said Shelley Seaby with Axia Property Management.

She said residents can't alter the exterior walls because they're not their sole property.

"You can't just drill through the exterior wall of your unit, because the condominium corporation is responsible for common elements."

Ownership disputes

Rod Escayola, a lawyer who specializes in condominium law and a former member of the Canadian military, said this dispute is similar to many others because it centres around what a condo owner actually owns.

People often don't realize there is common property they don't control and that condo boards are strict about it.

"We have to make sure that owners don't in any way jeopardize that or damage that," Escayola said.

He also said not everyone is aligned about what should be displayed publicly.

"There are all sorts of good reasons to regulate that. What is patriotic to some is not to others."

Mitchell said earlier this week he planned to try to find a compromise at the next condo board meeting.