SAN FRANCISCO -- Four members of a South Bay motorcycle club lost a free-speech claim against the Gilroy Garlic Festival in a federal appeals court in San Francisco Monday.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the festival didn't violate the First Amendment rights of the members of the Top Hatters Motorcycle Club when it asked them to remove their vests or leave the festival on July 30, 2000.

Motorcyclists George Villegas, Bob Poelker, Marcelo Orta and Don Derosiers all wore vests with a patch on the back showing a skull with wings and a top hat as well as the words "Top Hatters" and "Hollister."

They later said the purpose of the club was to ride motorcycles, promote good will among community groups and raise money for charities.

Festival promoters had an unwritten dress code policy barring gang colors or other insignia, including motorcycle club insignia. When the cyclists refused to remove their vests, their admission fees were refunded.

The club members claimed in a lawsuit filed against the city of Gilroy and the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association in federal court in San Jose in 2001 that the vests were a form of free speech.

But the appeals court said it wasn't clear what the message was because the club members didn't seem able to agree on what the insignia meant.

During depositions after they filed the lawsuit, one motorcyclist said the skull meant death while another said it represented a belief that "underneath our skin all of us are alike." A third member said only the top hat had meaning, referring to the club name, and the fourth said the insignia meant "whatever you want to interpret it as."

A three-judge appeals panel said, "In this case, the plaintiffs' act of wearing their vests adorned with a common insignia simply does not amount to the sort of expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment right to free speech."

The court upheld a ruling by U.S. District Judge James Ware in 2005 dismissing the case without a trial.