Why is there a ball on top of flag poles?

Question

curios...

Answer 1

to make sure the flag doesnt fly away

the ball is too big to go thru the space in teh flag

now... its useless

cause theyre normally tied down to a pully

... its just out of tradition i supose

and cause it adds a more fashionable look to it.

imagine just a straight pole... and  flag..

not very pretty

Answer 2

The ball is an ornament,  purely for decoration.  It's actual name is called a truk.  It does represent something.  "The Shot Heard Around the World" fired 19 April, 1775 at Lexington, Massachusetts.

Flag poles are also topped by spear points, halberds, eagles, etc...  

Answer 3

.. i think it's up there to discourage birds from parking on top of the flag...

..well... not altogether..  if they just flew off when they left it, they could put any thing up there, but birds [ for some reason ] have t**d-attacks at the moment they launch themselves...

I guess it's better to have a round slippery ball , than a perch.

Answer 4

Because some people think the pole wouldn't look right without one.

(It does have a certain Freudian connotation you know.)