a tall pole or mast used to fly a flag, usually in front of a building or public space.
Compound of 'flag' (from Old Norse 'flag' meaning to flap or fly) and 'pole' (from Latin 'palus' meaning stake or post). The compound term became standard English around the 1600s.
The phrase 'running it up the flagpole' (testing an idea) comes from military signaling—literally hoisting messages as flags to communicate across distances before radios, making it one of our oldest metaphors for sharing ideas.
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