LONGMONT, Colo. -- More than two dozen students walked out of Skyline High School Friday morning to protest what they say is a ban that doesn't allow the American flag to be flown on school grounds.

The principal said that the ban isn't just on American flags -- it's on all flags.

Several students who walked out of class Friday said that they were upset that Mexican flags can be waved around but that American flags couldn't. They said that school officials confiscated their American flags because they have become inflammatory because of recent immigration issues.

"When the immigration laws came out we noticed that a lot of Hispanics were waving Mexican flags and what we were thinking to ourselves is like, isn't the immigration law to stay in the country? You want to stay in America, correct? So I said, for every Mexican flag, you should have an American flag right next to it. So a few people went out and started waving American flags, and that's where everything bridged out," said Skyline student R.J. Fogal. "That's when they started telling us that we can't wave American flags, there's going to be no flags today, or everyone is going to be suspended -- whoever carries a flag."

"What we want to know is since when was it against the rules to have an American flag on a car, in a car, in your hands in a school?" said student William Cassity.

Skyline Principal Tom Stumpf said that the school enacted a ban this week that prohibits students to display, wear or fly any flag -- American or Mexican.

"The (policy) evolved because the flags were being used, not as a symbol of cultural heritage, but the flags were being used as symbols of bigotry, a symbol of hostility. They were being used to inflame different groups and we're simply not going to tolerate that at Skyline High School," Stumpf said.

"My paramount obligation, my solemn obligation at Skyline High School, is to provide a safe and secure environment and with the flags being used as a catalyst to stir up the students, to stir up the environment, I cannot condone that ... One flag was thrown into the face of another group and another flag was being brandished in front of another group and it was done to raise emotions, and we don't want that. We want respect -- that's our main goal at Skyline High School," he said.

The school has a diverse population and some students say there have been tensions between different ethnic groups because of the national immigration debate.

"I think our whole society is on different sides of the immigration issue and I can't control that. All I'm asking from our students is respect -- respect for one another, treating each other as they themselves want to be treated, treating each other decently, civilly," Stumpf said.

He said the students have a right to rally and those who walked out of class on Friday would not be punished.