You need to know why.
Not everybody flies a flag for the same reason. Some people fly a flag because they are patriotic, others because they want to add class, elegance and value to a property or landscaping project. Some people use flags and flagpoles as an effective form of signage and others to enhance a corporate image, show allegiance to their heritage, or to support their favorite football club.

It doesn’t matter why you want to fly a flag, but it does influence the number, size and style of pole you fly your flag from.

You need to know where.
A 12m flagpole looks spectacular, but probably a little out of place next to a holiday shack. More importantly flagpoles are designed to withstand specific wind loading for certain areas. For example a 6m pole designed for a site on an exposed headland will be built to

withstand higher wind loads than a pole in suburban Sydney or Melbourne. Similarly poles used in cyclone areas need to be stronger than a pole in a Victorian country town.

You need to know how big.
This is not just a matter of deciding a 6m pole looks good outside a single story house, or a 9m pole looks great in front the new corporate headquarters. Flag size is an important variable in calculating the loads on a flagpole. Flying a six square metre flag on a skinny 6m flagpole is a bit like trying to carry a two ton load on a one ton ute; sooner or later you will break it. This doesn’t mean that you can’t fly big flags on small poles. A pole has a maximum designed wind load for a given flag size, so you can fly the six square metre flag on the skinny flagpole in gentle breezes, but don’t expect the pole to survive flying the big flag in a gale of wind.