Hmmm: officially it seems banners are hung from the top while flags are pole-mounted from the side. In attempting to look up rāya and ʿalam I did run across various statements about when they should be furled and unfurled; I guess I need better vocabulary for all this...

Anyone have enough vexillology to know what the appropriate search terms would be for a "widely replicated, continuously displayed, cloth-based political symbol"?