Types of flagpoles in Australia – an overview

A flagpole can be a simple pole in a front yard or a flag mast with rigging for several flags. In Australia, most flagpoles are made of aluminium and stand in the ground, but there are several ways of fixing them and of raising the flag. The Victorian Department of Education, which publishes guidance on flagpoles for government schools, describes three ways of installing a pole: free-standing with a fixed base, free-standing with a hinged base, and attached to a building.

Free-standing with a fixed base

The most common type is the free-standing pole with a fixed base. According to the Victorian guidance, either a concrete base is poured around the pole, or around a tubular sleeve into which the pole is then inserted, or a base plate is bolted down onto a concrete footing. A pole in a sleeve can be taken out for maintenance or replacement. Foundations are covered in the guide to installing a flagpole.

Hinged base

With a hinged base, the concrete footing carries a metal hinge that allows the pole to be lowered, for example for maintenance. The Victorian guidance adds that hinged options are best considered together with experienced manufacturers and installers. Lowering a pole to the ground avoids much of the work at height described in the guide to flagpole safety.

Telescopic poles

Telescopic or sectional poles come in shorter sections that fit into each other or join together. They are easier to transport and are sold as kits for homes and farms. More about carrying long poles is in the guide to transporting a flagpole.

Building-attached and wall-mounted poles

Some sites have no room for an in-ground pole. According to the Victorian guidance, schools on tight inner-urban sites may find it more practicable to attach flagpoles to the outside of their buildings. Wall-mounted flag staffs, often at an angle, are common on shops and houses. The permit rules treat them separately: in Victoria, for example, a pole attached to a building is exempt from a building permit up to 3 metres above the highest point of attachment. According to the flag maker Flags Fantastic, a flag on a wall-mounted pole of up to 6 metres is commonly 1800 × 900 mm.

Flag masts with yardarm and gaff

A flag mast in the nautical style has a yardarm, a cross arm, and sometimes a gaff, a spar set diagonally on the after side of the mast, as the glossary of the booklet Australian Flags explains. It can carry several flags from one pole: the Australian flag at the peak of the gaff or at the masthead, and other flags on the arms of the yardarm. According to PM&C, the peak of the gaff is the position of honour. Flag masts are seen at yacht clubs, surf clubs, naval sites and waterfront properties. The positions are explained in the guide to flag protocol.

External or internal halyard

• External halyard: the rope runs outside the pole and is tied off on a cleat. It is simple and easy to reach.
• Internal halyard: the rope runs inside the pole behind a lockable door, often with a counterweight. According to the Victorian Department of Education, the halyard at government schools is internal, with a lockable hatch to reduce vandalism and for safety.

How the parts work is explained in the guide to how a flagpole works.

Straight or tapered

Flagpoles are either the same diameter along their whole length or tapered, narrower at the top. According to the Victorian guidance, a straight 6 metre pole is typically 80 mm in diameter, while a tapered pole has a base diameter of about 90 mm for 6 metres and about 100 mm for 7.5 metres, and can be more expensive.

Several flagpoles

Where more than one flag is flown, each flag has its own pole, as the PM&C protocol states that two flags are not flown from the same flagpole. According to the Victorian Department of Education, new government schools in Victoria are built with three flagpoles, so that the Australian, Victorian and Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander flags can be flown together. Materials are compared in the guide to flagpole materials, and heights in the guide to flagpole heights.