Camping World’s patriotic CEO hauls giant American flag back up, then obtains permit

The CEO of an RV retailer has ordered the giant American flag be raised once again at the company’s French Camp location in California after it was taken down in a permit dispute.

San Joaquin County officials said the flag had been ordered down because the “flagpole was installed with neither a building permit nor planning approval,” Fox Business reported.

According to local CBS News 13 Sacramento, the county said the size of the flag wasn’t at issue but the length of the flagpole and its proximity to a major highway were safety concerns. 

A review of photos posted on Google Maps by The Lion shows the flagpole first making an appearance in street level photos in December 2023. The county ordered the flag hauled down in April 2024, according to local media. 

The pole, according to photos viewed on Google Maps, is in the parking lot at the back of the store, at least 100 feet from the highway. 

Camping World at first complied with the order. 

But for Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis, the American flag is a symbol of unity for his adopted country, so despite the dispute, he ordered Old Glory back up.  

“I’m an immigrant into this country and was given an opportunity by natural born citizens to be here. I’m grateful,” said Lemonis, who immigrated from Lebanon to Miami, Florida after a couple adopted him from an orphanage at the age of nine months. 

Lemonis had been left “on the steps” of the home at just 4-days-old, according to his biography at the Camping World website. 

For the businessman, the dispute is about government bureaucracy interfering with people putting on a patriotic display.   

“I’m going to keep it up,” he told the local CBS station. “I know the county may want to fine us and do things that are negative in nature. They are rooted deeply into the ground, we have hundreds of them all over, that isn’t how it works.”  

“I was given the blessing of being able to enter this country and become a citizen, and I’m grateful for it. It’s been part of my life since I was a little child down in Miami, Florida, where we had the largest flagpole in Miami at our car dealership,” he told Fox40. 

Friday, a member of the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors told Fox News a permit had been granted. 

“We welcome their business and the flag,” Tom Patti said. “Once we got the info we requested, we issued a permit, and it’s a done deal for us.”