Whether you need a flagpole to display the national flag at your residence, your company’s flag on your office grounds, or your team’s flag in your living room, you have to take into consideration a number of factors to ensure that you are spending your money on something that is durable and long-lasting.
If you go online and do a quick search of “flag poles on sale in your city” or “flag poles on sale near me,” you will find a wide range of options. What should you do to find the one that suits your needs?
Location
Have you decided where you want to place the flagpole? Will it be outdoors or indoors? Will it be exposed to wind and rain? Will it be in an area that gets a lot of foot traffic? To find the right flagpole, you must first decide where you want to position it. There are flagpoles that are designed to withstand extreme outdoor conditions, and there are also flagpoles that are made for indoor settings. By determining this at the start, you can narrow down your search and have a better idea of which to pick.
Height
Do you want a flagpole so high that everyone from a distance away can spot it right away? Or do you want it at just about the same height as your house? Will you need it lower than the ceiling? Or will you want one that can be mounted at an angle to an interior or exterior wall? Their heights can range from 6 feet to 130 feet. Outdoor poles are usually around 20 feet to over 100 feet tall, while residential poles and indoor poles are around 6 to 12 feet.
Installation
Do you want a flagpole that is similar to what you see on the grounds of government offices? Do you want it to have a concrete base and foundation? Or are you interested in something that can be tilted, lowered, and laid flat on the ground? Flagpoles also vary in how they are installed. Below are the types of flagpole installation methods that you can choose from:
In-ground – This is the most common way to install a flagpole. Also called ground set, it is the strongest among the rest because the bottom 1/10 of the flagpole is embedded below the ground in concrete.
Shoe base – This requires the use of support hardware and parts for flagpole installation. To install, the flagpole is positioned above ground and set in place using a set of anchor bolts that are embedded into concrete.
Hinge-base – This comes with a hinge-base attachment that can be tilted so that the pole can be lowered and laid flat on the ground if needed.
Wall-mount – This uses mounting parts for flagpole installation, such as brackets, so that the pole can be attached vertically or at a particular angle to a wall.
Material
Are flagpoles made of steel the best option for the outdoors? Are flagpoles made of fiberglass good enough? What other materials are flagpoles made of? Many people probably think that flagpoles are made using only metal, but the truth is that flagpoles are made from a few different materials. Nowadays, you can find and buy flagpoles made of the following materials:
Steel – This is probably the material that many people think of when considering a flagpole. It is strong and sturdy, but also weighs a lot and gets rusty over time.
Aluminum – This material is more lightweight than steel. It is resistant to rust and corrosion. It is also long lasting and requires minimal maintenance.
Fiberglass – This material makes the pole a lot stronger and resistant to corrosion, moisture, high temperatures, high winds, and other extreme conditions.
Halyard system
Will you need to raise or lower the flag at times? How accessible would you like the wire, cable, or rope for raising and lowering the flag to be? The halyard system is all about raising and lowering the flagpole. It can be internal (where the wire, cable, or rope that raises and lowers the flag is positioned inside the flagpole and not that easily accessible) or external (where the wire, cable, or rope that allows the flag to be raised or lowered is found outside and runs down the flagpole.)
Flag
Will the flagpole be for the national flag? Or will it be used for some flag signage? How big is the flag in question? There is a flag sizing guide that can help you determine the appropriate flagpole size to buy. Flagpoles that are 6 feet tall are best suited for flags with dimensions of 3 x 5 feet, and those that are 20 feet to 25 feet tall are ideal for flags that measure 3 x 5 feet to 5 x 8 feet. Before buying, make sure to research this to find the right flagpole for your flag.