The level I am at the players, coaches, first aiders are all doing it for free. Indeed the reverse: in most cases they are paying to be members of the club, and paying match fees.
Indeed I pay membership to my club, so when I ref there on a Sunday morning in a sense I am effectively paying to ref. I never give it a second thought, it's a club. I don't thnk my role is so special I deserve free membership.
All hobbies have costs associated with them, and the equipment and clothes I need to buy for my refereeing hobby are a LOT cheaper than those I buy in the course of my cycling hobby !
My society requires me to wear a special shirt, they gave me that for free. They don't require to me wear special shorts or socks. When my old ones wore out, I did buy society ones, but they cheaply priced.
Of course further up the ranks it different, if all the coaches and players are being paid, so should the ref.
I had a pair of flags however one got pinched/not handed back so now I have one. I will tend to lend it to a "proper" Touch Judge because they tend to keep in all match. Where we have the TJ is a replacment(s) and/or the leased bored/drunk spectator I hang on to it.
At L8 most clubs have a proper TJ and he/she comes equipped with flag. The down side is this is usually something fashioned out of the club colours and invariably does not stand out well against a crowd/trees etc.
I use my solo flag if I get a TJ/AR gig.
I got mine from Sports Direct or some such cheap and cheerful shop. They were about £5-£7 IIRC.
I'm not here to convince you. You are either in the group that agree it should be cost neutral or you don't and no amount of argument will change your mind. But by not catering for both sides means you limit those that take up the task.
I take it you don't have referee shortages and have every single game covered by qualified referees over there?