A Quick Guide to Pride Flags

A

AQUICK QUICK

GUIDE TO:GUIDE TO:

PRIDE PRIDE FLAGS FLAGS

ILLUSTRATED AND REARRANGED BY MARGARET ROSARIO

RAINBOW FLRAINBOW FL

Therainbowflagisoneofthemostwidelyuseda symbolsofthegaypridemovement.Theoriginal inSanFranciscoonJune25,1978.

Eachcolorrepresents

aspecificmeaning:

RED: LIFE RED: LIFE

ORANGE: HEALING ORANGE: HEALING

YELLOW: SUN YELLOW: SUN

GREEN: NATURE GREEN: NATURE

BLUE: HARMONY BLUE: HARMONY

PURPLE: SOUL PURPLE: SOUL

ABOUTTHE ABOUTTHE ARTIST ARTIST

HELLO! I'M MARGARET ROSARIO, BETTER KNOWN AS MARGE. I'M AN UNDOCUMENTED FILIPINO QUEER STUDENT AND A THIRDYEAR ART MAJOR. I CREATED THIS SERIES OF ILLUSTRATIONS TO EDUCATE OTHERS ON THE MEANINGS AND REPRESENTATIONS OF ALL THE FLAGS, BUT I WANTED TO DO IT IN A CUTE SEXY WAY. ANYWAYS, I HOPE YA'LL ENJOY!

PHILADELPHIA PHILADELPHIA PRIDEFLAG PRIDEFLAG

In2017,anewinterpretationofthePrideFlagemerged.Namedforthecity whereitwasfirstcreated,thePhiladelphiaflagaddedstripesofBlackand Browntotheprevioussixcolors,thusbetterrepresentingandadvocating forLGBTQA+peopleofcolor.

PROGRESSIVE PROGRESSIVE FLAG FLAG

Notlongafterwardin2018,theProgressPrideFlaggainedprominenceinthecommunity. ThisneweditionofthePrideFlaghascolorstorepresentbothtranspeopleandLGBTQA+ peopleofcolor,inadditiontothesixrainbowstripes.Foranyonewantingtoshowasmuch supportaspossiblefortheLGBTQA+community,theProgressFlag-withthearrowsto representinclusionandprogression-isagreatwaytoindicateprideformultipleidentities.

Eachcolorrepresentsa specificmeaning:

WHITE,PINK,ANDLIGHTBLUE: WHITE,PINK,ANDLIGHTBLUE: TRANSGENDERINDIVIDUALS TRANSGENDERINDIVIDUALS

BROWNANDBLACK: BROWNANDBLACK: PEOPLEOFCOLOR. PEOPLEOFCOLOR.

BISEXUAL FLAGBISEXUAL FLAG

RobinOchsdefinesbisexualityasthepotentialtobeattracted (romanticallyand/orsexually)topeopleofmorethanone sex/gender,notnecessarilyatthesametimeorsamedegree.

LLOVEIS OVE!

Eachcolor representsa specific meaning:

MAGENTA: MAGENTA: SAMEGENDERATTRACTION SAMEGENDERATTRACTION BLUE; BLUE; ATTRACTIONTOOTHER ATTRACTIONTOOTHER GENDERS GENDERS

LAVENDER: LAVENDER: ATTRACTIONTOWARDS ATTRACTIONTOWARDS BOTHGENDERS BOTHGENDERS

PANSEXUALFLAG PANSEXUALFLAG

Pansexuality,oromnisexuality,isasexualattraction,sexualdesire, romanticlove,oremotionalattractiontowardspeopleofallgender identitiesandbiologicalsexes.

Eachcolor representsa specific meaning:

ROSEPINK: ROSEPINK: THOSEIDENTIFIED THOSEIDENTIFIED ASFEMALE-GENDERED ASFEMALE-GENDERED

GOLD: GOLD: BOTHGENDERS, BOTHGENDERS, NEITHERGENDER,OR NEITHERGENDER,OR THIRDGENDER THIRDGENDER

BRIGHTBLUE: BRIGHTBLUE: THOSEIDENTIFIED THOSEIDENTIFIED ASMALE-GENDERED ASMALE-GENDERED

LOVEHAS NOBOUNDS!

ASEXUALFLAG ASEXUALFLAG

Asexualpeopleexperiencelittleornosexualattractiontoothers. Asexualityis differentfromcelibacy:asexualityisaspectrum,buttherangespreadstono intrinsicdesiretohavesex;whilecelibatepeoplearesexual,but b t i f sex.

Eachcolor representsa specific meaning:

BLACK BLACK:: REPRESENTSASEXUALITY REPRESENTSASEXUALITY

GREY: GREY:

THEGREY-AREA THEGREY-AREA BETWEENSEXUALAND BETWEENSEXUALAND ASEXUAL ASEXUAL

PURPLE: PURPLE: REPRESENTSCOMMUNITY REPRESENTSCOMMUNITY

RESPECT YOURSELF!

TRANSGENDER TRANSGENDER

FLAG FLAG

Transgenderisanumbrellatermforpeoplewhosegender identity,genderexpression,orbehaviordoesn'ttypically conformtothesexassignedatbirth.Genderidentityreferstoa person'sinternalsenseofbeingaman,woman,orgenderqueer.

Eachcolor representsa specific

meaning:

LIGHT BLUE:LIGHT BLUE: TRADITONAL COLORTRADITONAL COLOR FOR BOYSFOR BOYS

LIGHT PINK:LIGHT PINK: TRADITIONAL COLORTRADITIONAL COLOR FOR GIRLSFOR GIRLS

WHITE: WHITE: INTERSEX ORINTERSEX OR UNDEFINED GENDERUNDEFINED GENDER

ANDROGYNE ANDROGYNE

Anandrogynouspersondisplaysacombinationofmasculineand femininecharacteristicsinanambiguousform.Androgynymaybe statedwithrespecttobiologicalsex,genderidentity,and/orgender expression.

Eachcolor represents aspecific meaning:

PINK PINK:: FEMININITY FEMININITY ANDWOMANHOOD ANDWOMANHOOD PURPLE: PURPLE: ANDROGNY, ANDROGNY, COMBINATION COMBINATION OFBOTHCOLORS OFBOTHCOLORS

BLUE:MASCULNITY BLUE:MASCULNITY ANDMANHOOD ANDMANHOOD

GENDERQUEER GENDERQUEER FLAG FLAG

ThegenderqueerflagwasMarilynRoxie's3rdandfinalversioncreatedinJune

2011inordertorepresentthatthetermgenderqueermeanssomeonewhodoes notfollowbinarygendernorms.Theymaybenon-binary,agender,pangender, andgenderfluid.

PRIDE WITHIN YOURSELF!

Eachcolorrepresents aspecificmeaning:

LAVENDER LAVENDER:: MIXTUREOF MIXTUREOF PINKANDBLUE, PINKANDBLUE, REPRESENTATIONOFQUEERNESS REPRESENTATIONOFQUEERNESS WHITE: WHITE: AGENDERIDENTITYANDCONGRUENT AGENDERIDENTITYANDCONGRUENT WITHGENDERNEUTRAL WITHGENDERNEUTRAL GREEN: GREEN: INVERSEOFLAVENDER, INVERSEOFLAVENDER, IDENTITIESREFERENCEDOUTSIDEOF IDENTITIESREFERENCEDOUTSIDEOF THEBINARY THEBINARY

GENDERFLUID GENDERFLUID FLAG FLAG

Genderfluidityreferstochangeovertimeinaperson'sgenderexpression orgenderidentity,orboth.Thatchangemightbeinexpression,butnot identity,orinidentity,butnotexpression.Orbothexpressionandidentity mightchangetogether.

Eachcolor representsa specific meaning:

PURPLE PURPLE:: MASCULINITY MASCULINITYANDFEMININITY ANDFEMININITY

BLACK: BLACK: PEOPLEOFALLGENDERS PEOPLEOFALLGENDERS

BLUE: BLUE: MASCULINITY MASCULINITY

PINK: PINK: FEMININITY FEMININITY

WHITE: WHITE: LACKOFGENDER LACKOFGENDER

NON-BINARY NON-BINARY FLAG FLAG

Non-binaryarepeoplewhosegenderidentitydoesnotfitwithinthe traditionalmale/femalebinary.RikiAnneWilchinsusedthetermfor anybodywhoisgendernonconforming,similartootherumbrellaterms likegenderqueerorgender-fluid.

Eachcolor representsa specific meaning:

YELLOW: YELLOW: PEOPLEWHOSEGENDEREXISTS PEOPLEWHOSEGENDEREXISTS OUTSIDEOFTHEBINARY OUTSIDEOFTHEBINARY

WHITE: WHITE: PEOPLEWITHMANYORALLGENDERS PEOPLEWITHMANYORALLGENDERS

PURPLE: PURPLE: PEOPLEWITHGENDERSCONSIDEREDA PEOPLEWITHGENDERSCONSIDEREDA MIXOFMALEANDFEMALE MIXOFMALEANDFEMALE

BLACK: BLACK: PEOPLEWHODON'THAVEAGENDER PEOPLEWHODON'THAVEAGENDER

AGENDERFLAG AGENDERFLAG

TheflagwascreatedtorepresentthosewithintheAgendercommunity. Agenderfolksmayidentifyashavingnogender,havinganundefinablegender, notaligningwithanygender,gender-neutralorneutrois,orchoosenottolabel theirgender.

Eachcolor represents aspecific meaning:

BLACKANDWHITE BLACKANDWHITE:: THEABSENCEOF THEABSENCEOF GENDER GENDER GREY: GREY: SEMI-GENDERLESSNESS SEMI-GENDERLESSNESS

LIGHTGREEN: LIGHTGREEN: NONBINARYGENDERS NONBINARYGENDERS

AROMANTIC AROMANTIC FLAG FLAG

Aromanticpeoplehavelittleornoromanticattractiontoothers.Theymay ormaynotfeelsexualattraction.Anaromanticpersoncanfallintooneof twogroups:aromanticsexualpeopleoraromanticasexualpeople.

Eachcolor representsa specificmeaning:

DARKGREEN DARKGREEN:: REPRESENTSAROMANTICISM REPRESENTSAROMANTICISM

LIGHTGREEN: LIGHTGREEN: AROMANTICSPECTRUM AROMANTICSPECTRUM

WHITE: WHITE: PLATONICANDAESTHETIC PLATONICANDAESTHETIC ATTRACTION ATTRACTION

GREY: GREY: GREY-AROMANTIC GREY-AROMANTIC ORDEMIROMANTICPEOPLE ORDEMIROMANTICPEOPLE

BLACK: BLACK: THESEXUALITY THESEXUALITY SPECTRUM SPECTRUM

ARO-ACEFLAG ARO-ACEFLAG

Therearemanycombinedaromanticandasexualflagdesigns,butsomearo-ace peopleseeitasonewholeidentityandusetheorangeandbluearo-aceflagtoreflect that.Itwasdesignedincollaborationwiththearo-acecommunitybyTumblruser Aroesflagsin2018,andalsoreferstosomeonewhodoesn'texperiencesexualor romanticattraction.

Eachcolor representsa specific meaning:

ORANGE ORANGE:: COMMUNITYANDUNITY COMMUNITYANDUNITY

YELLOW: YELLOW:

LOVEANDRELATIONSHIPSTHATEXIST LOVEANDRELATIONSHIPSTHATEXIST OUTSIDESEXUALANDROMANTICNORMS OUTSIDESEXUALANDROMANTICNORMS

WHITE: WHITE: WHOLENESSTHATREPRESENT WHOLENESSTHATREPRESENT INDEPENDENCEOUTSIDEOF INDEPENDENCEOUTSIDEOF RELATIONSHIPS RELATIONSHIPS

TWOSHADESOFBLUE: TWOSHADESOFBLUE: ARO-ACEIDENTITIES ARO-ACEIDENTITIES

POLYAMORY POLYAMORY FLAG FLAG

TheoriginalpolyamoryflagwasdesignedbyJimEvansin1995.Thepi(π)symbol isaGreekletterandmakesreferencetothefactthat“polyamory”alsostartswith “p.”Goldinthepisymbolrepresentsthevalueplacedonemotionalattachment, notjustphysicalattraction.

Eachcolor representsa specific meaning:

BLUE BLUE:: OPENNESSANDHONESTYINTHE OPENNESSANDHONESTYINTHE RELATIONSHIP RELATIONSHIP

RED: RED: LOVEANDPASSION LOVEANDPASSION

BLACK: BLACK: SOLIDARITYTOWARDS SOLIDARITYTOWARDS POLYAMOROUSRELATIONSHIPS POLYAMOROUSRELATIONSHIPS

(PISYMBOL)YELLOW: (PISYMBOL)YELLOW: VALUEPLACEDON VALUEPLACEDON EMOTIONALATTACHMENT EMOTIONALATTACHMENT

POLYSEXUAL POLYSEXUAL FLAG FLAG

Theprefix“poly”meansmany,andpolysexualindividualsareattractedtopeople ofmultiplegenders.Peoplewhoidentifyaspolysexualoftenusethatwordbecause itsuggestsagreatervariety sexualorientationsthantraditionalgenderbinariesof maleandfemale,orhetero-andhomosexual.

Eachcolor representsa specific meaning:

MAGENTA MAGENTA::

ATTRACTIONTOWOMEN ATTRACTIONTOWOMEN GREEN: GREEN:

ATTRACTIONTO ATTRACTIONTO NON-BINARYPEOPLE NON-BINARYPEOPLE

BLUE:ATTRACTION BLUE:ATTRACTION TOMEN TOMEN

LABRYSFLAG LABRYSFLAG

Thedesigninvolvesalabryssuperimposedontheinvertedblacktriangle,set againstaviolethuebackground.Thelabryswasusedasanancientreligious symbol,andforothervariouspurposes.Inthe1970sitwasadoptedasasymbol ofempowermentbythelesbianfeministcommunity.

Eachcolor representsa specificmeaning:

LABRYS: LABRYS: AMYTHICALWEAPONUSEDBYTHE AMYTHICALWEAPONUSEDBYTHE AMAZONSSYMBOLIZINGEMPOWERMENT AMAZONSSYMBOLIZINGEMPOWERMENT INVERTEDBLACKTRIANGLE: INVERTEDBLACKTRIANGLE: CALLBACKTOWHENNAZISCAPTURED CALLBACKTOWHENNAZISCAPTURED HOMOSEXUALWOMENANDLABELED HOMOSEXUALWOMENANDLABELED THEMASASOCIAL THEMASASOCIAL

VIOLET: VIOLET:

REPRESENTSLESBIANSANDPOETRYOF REPRESENTSLESBIANSANDPOETRYOF SAPPHO SAPPHO

LESBIANWLW LESBIANWLW FLAG FLAG

Featuringshadesofp althoughsomefeelit originalversion.Crea Whilesomestillemb butch-phobic,leading

Eachcolor representsa specific meaning:

DARKORANGE: DARKORANGE:

GENDERNON-CONFORMING GENDERNON-CONFORMING

ORANGE:INDEPENDENCE ORANGE:INDEPENDENCE

LIGHTORANGE:COMMUNITY LIGHTORANGE:COMMUNITY

WHITE:UNIQUERELATIONSHIPS WHITE:UNIQUERELATIONSHIPS

TOWOMANHOOD TOWOMANHOOD

PINK:SERENITYANDPEACE PINK:SERENITYANDPEACE

DUSTYPINK:LOVEANDSEX DUSTYPINK:LOVEANDSEX

DARKROSE:FEMININITY DARKROSE:FEMININITY

GAYMLM GAYMLM FLAG FLAG

CommunitiesofcolorcommonlyuseMenLovingMen(MLM)todenotemen's attractiontomen.TheGayMLMflagisinclusiveofnon-binarypeopleandtrans men.Itwascreatedasacounterparttothelesbianprideflag.

GREEN: GREEN: COMMUNITY COMMUNITY

TEAL; TEAL; HEALING HEALING

LIGHTGREEN: LIGHTGREEN: JOY JOY

WHITE: WHITE: TRANSMENANDNON-BINARY TRANSMENANDNON-BINARY PEOPLE PEOPLE

LIGHTBLUE: LIGHTBLUE: LOVE LOVE

PURPLE: PURPLE: COURAGE COURAGE

DARKPURPLE: DARKPURPLE: DIVERSITYANDINCLUSIVITY DIVERSITYANDINCLUSIVITY

Eachcolorrepresentsa specificmeaning:

BEARPRIDE BEARPRIDE FLAG FLAG

MontclairStateUniversitydefinesabearinqueercultureas"agayorbisexualman whohasfacial/bodyhairandacuddlybody."TheflagwascreatedbyCraigByrnesin 1995,andeachofthecolorsstandsforadifferentskintoneorhaircolorofhuman beings,inordertoemphasizeinclusivity.

Eachcolor represents aspecific meaning:

EACH NEUTRAL EACH NEUTRAL TONE: TONE:

REPRESENTS REPRESENTS

SECONDARY SEX SECONDARY SEX

CHARACTERISTICS CHARACTERISTICS LIKE BODY HAIR AND LIKE BODY HAIR AND FACIAL HAIR, HENCE FACIAL HAIR, HENCE

ASSOCIATING WITH ASSOCIATING WITH BEARS BEARS

LEATHERPRIDE LEATHERPRIDE FLAG FLAG

Alsoknownas“blackandbluewithlove,”theleatherprideflagisnotassociated withanyparticularsexualorientation(thoughit'susedmostcommonlybygay men)butinsteadindicatesaninterestinkink.The“leathersubculture”is somewhathardtodefineasitencompassesawidevarietyofactivities.

Eachcolor representsa specificmeaning:

WHITE:INTEGRITY

WHITE:INTEGRITY

HEART:LOVE HEART:LOVE

BLACK:BLACKLEATHER BLACK:BLACKLEATHER BLUE:BLUEDENIM BLUE:BLUEDENIM

DEMISEXUAL DEMISEXUAL FLAG FLAG

Demisexualityisasexualorientation.Peoplewhoidentifyasdemisexualonlyfeel sexualattractiontosomeoneafterthey'veformedastrongemotionalbondwith them.Comparedtothegeneralpopulation,mostpeoplewhoaredemisexual rarelyfeelsexualattraction.

Eachcolor representsa specific meaning:

BLACK:ASEXUALITY BLACK:ASEXUALITY

GRAY:DEMISEXUALITY GRAY:DEMISEXUALITY

WHITE:SEXUALITY WHITE:SEXUALITY

PURPLE:COMMUNITY PURPLE:COMMUNITY

BIGENDER BIGENDER FLAG FLAG

Thisflagisoftenusedasanidentificationforpeoplewhodonotidentifywithor conformtoanygender.Bigender:Havingspecificallytwogenders;exhibitingcultural characteristicsofmaleandfemaleroles,eithersimultaneouslyoralternatively.

Eachcolor represents aspecific meaning:

PURPLE:REFERENCES PURPLE:REFERENCES NON-BINARYGENDERS NON-BINARYGENDERS

WHITE:NEUTRAL

WHITE:NEUTRAL GENDERS GENDERS

BLUE:REFERENCES BLUE:REFERENCES

MALEGENDER MALEGENDER

PINK:REFERENCES PINK:REFERENCES

FEMALEGENDER FEMALEGENDER

GENDERFLUX GENDERFLUX

FLAG FLAG

Genderfluxisagenderidentitythatvariesinintensityovertime.Thiscanbe donegradually,rapidly,oratanyspeedin-between,dependingontheperson. Usually,itisconsistent,andsometimesitisnot.Genderfluxisunderthe multigenderumbrella.Genderfluxindividualscanalsoidentifyasnon-binary and/ortransgender.

DARKPINK: DARKPINK: REPRESENTS REPRESENTS WOMAN WOMAN

Eachcolor representsa specific meaning:

LIGHTPINK: LIGHTPINK: STANDSFORDEMIGIRL STANDSFORDEMIGIRL

GREY: GREY: STANDSFORAGENDER STANDSFORAGENDER

LIGHTBLUE: LIGHTBLUE: STANDS STANDSFORDEMIBOY FORDEMIBOY

DARKBLUE: DARKBLUE: REPRESENTSMEN REPRESENTSMEN

YELLOW:STANDSFORNON-BINARY YELLOW:STANDSFORNON-BINARY

INTERSEXFLAG INTERSEXFLAG

Intersexpeopleareindividualsbornwithanyofseveralsexcharacteristics includingchromosomepatterns,gonads,orgenitalsthat,accordingtothe OfficeoftheUnitedNationsHighCommissionerforHumanRights,"do notfittypicalbinarynotionsofmaleorfemalebodies."

Eachcolor representsa specific meaning:

CIRCLEEMBLEM: CIRCLEEMBLEM: AVOIDINGGENDERCOLOR AVOIDINGGENDERCOLOR STEROTYPES;SYMBOLISING STEROTYPES;SYMBOLISING WHOLENESSAND WHOLENESSAND COMPLETENESS,ANDONE'S COMPLETENESS,ANDONE'S POTENTIALITIES POTENTIALITIES

GOLDANDPURPLE: GOLDANDPURPLE: FREEFROMGENDER FREEFROMGENDER ASSOCIATIONSAND ASSOCIATIONSAND HISTORICALLYUSEDTO HISTORICALLYUSEDTO REPRESENTINTERSEX REPRESENTINTERSEX

PEOPLE PEOPLE

What'syour prideflag?