The Nishan Sahib is the tall flagpole raised outside every gurdwara, flying a triangular saffron-colored flag that bears the Khanda, the Sikh emblem combining a double-edged sword, a circular chakkar and two crossed kirpans, at its center. Rising well above the roofline of the building it stands beside, the Nishan Sahib is deliberately visible from a considerable distance, functioning as the primary external marker that identifies a building as a functioning gurdwara long before a visitor is close enough to see any other feature of the structure, in much the way a steeple or a minaret marks other traditions' places of worship from afar. The pole itself is typically covered in cloth of the same saffron color as the flag it flies, wrapped from base to tip, and the flag is mounted at an angle near the top of a distinctive curved finial.
Community members generally treat both the pole and the flag with considerable reverence, and the Nishan Sahib is not a passive decorative feature but an actively maintained object, its cloth covering periodically replaced as it weathers, in a ceremony that is itself a significant occasion in the life of the gurdwara community. A gurdwara without an active Nishan Sahib, whether because the pole has fallen into disrepair or a new building has not yet raised one, is generally understood within the community as not yet, or no longer, fully functioning as a place of worship, underlining that the flagpole is treated as a structural requirement of a working gurdwara rather than an optional decorative addition.