When you do get to that point, it will also depend on which forum theme you choose (under look & layout preferences in your profile settings). There are quite a few features here that some themes support and others don’t, or only support poorly. I use the Classic YaBB theme, and can’t see the flags either.
Maybe one of these millennia someone will be nice (and ambitious) enough to draw up a chart of what does or doesn’t work in each theme, and post it as a sticky.
OK, no sticky (not that I was gonna be the one to do the work anyway ) – but a lot of us agree it would be nice to have that theme-capability info all in one post rather than all over the place as it is now. New members, I’m sure, would particularly appreciate it.