Types of flagpoles in New Zealand – an overview

A flagpole can be a short pole on a deck or a flag mast with rigging for several flags. In New Zealand, most flagpoles sold for homes and businesses are powder-coated aluminium, and they differ mainly in how they are fixed and how the flag is raised. The Flag & Banner Company, one of the flag makers listed by Manatū Taonga, names four ways of mounting a pole: over a spigot concreted into the ground, on a plinth-type spigot, on a folding spigot, or fixed direct to a substantial structure like a wall or post.

In-ground poles

The most common type is the in-ground pole standing over a spigot or in a ground tube. According to the Flag & Banner Company, a spigot concreted into the ground is usually the most economic way to mount a pole. The flag maker Flagmakers supplies its poles with a 1 metre galvanised ground tube into which the pole is set. A pole on a spigot or in a tube can be taken out for maintenance or replacement. Footings are covered in the guide to installing a flagpole.

Base plates and plinths

Where the pole stands on concrete, a paving or a plinth, it is fixed with a base mount or a plinth-type spigot bolted to the concrete. Flagmakers describes a heavy-duty base mount for mounting a pole directly onto concrete.

Folding poles

On a folding spigot, the pole is hinged at the base and can be lowered to the ground. This makes it possible to change the halyard or service the top of the pole without working at height, as described in the guide to flagpole safety.

Poles on decks, walls and buildings

Some sites have no room for an in-ground pole. Flagmakers supplies parapet mounts for fixing a pole to decks and facades, and short wall-mounted staffs, often at an angle, are common on shops and houses. Under the Building Act 2004, a mast pole on a building that is more than 7 metres above its point of attachment or base support is itself a building. More in the guide to installing a flagpole.

Flag masts with yardarm and gaff

A flag mast in the nautical style has a yardarm and sometimes a gaff. The glossary of Manatū Taonga – Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH) defines a yardarm as a spar slung horizontally across a flagpole and a gaff as a spar extending out from it. A flag mast can carry several flags from one pole. According to MCH, if the flagpole has a gaff, the New Zealand flag is flown from the gaff and above any other flag. 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 and is reached through a lockable access point, as on Flagmakers’ internal halyard poles. According to the Flag & Banner Company, the minimum pole section for an internal halyard is 3 inches, 76.25 mm.

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 Flag & Banner Company, a tapered pole is a cost-effective way to make and transport poles over 6 metres long, with easy assembly on site, and bigger-diameter poles have more presence. Flagmakers lists a 5 metre pole of 50 mm diameter and a 6.8 metre pole of 75 mm diameter.

Indoor and portable poles

Indoor ceremonial flagpoles, often of wood, carry a flag with a sleeve for council chambers, schools and halls, and portable flag bases hold teardrop and feather flags at events. Materials are compared in the guide to flagpole materials, and heights in the guide to flagpole heights.