60 Pride Flags
This is a glossary of Pride flags represent different; gender identities, sexual orientations and fetishes, and is taken from a number of sources which are listed below.
The Gender and Sexuality Resource Centre (GSRC) of the University of North Colorado, whose staff compiled the history of each flag
Maria Claire (MC)
Advocate (A)
Queerdom Wiki Fandom! (QWF)
Western Connecticut State University (WCSU)
Queer In The World (QITW)
Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
Polyamproud (P)
Library.LGBT (L)
For clarity against each flag is either; GSRC, MC, A, QWF, WCSU or QITW to indicate the source of the information, and at the bottom of the document there are the hyperlinks to the sources.
Abrosexual Pride Flag QITW
Abrosexual: A person who has a fluid sexual orientation and may experience different sexual orientations over time.
History: The abrosexual flag was created by Mod Chad of pride flags-for-us after an anonymous Tumblr user requested it.
It is also thought that the flag and the term originated on DeviantArt in 2013 and later gained recognition on Tumblr.
The abrosexual flag is made up of five colours. There’s dark green, light green, white, baby pink, and rich pink from top to bottom.
It isn’t known why these colours were specifically chosen for the abrosexual flag.
One Tumblr user on the page abrosexual learning shared their interpretation of what the flag’s colours mean.
They said, “Green represents a queer attraction, the fade to white is for the in-between stage of attraction shifting, and pink is for the actual shift itself.
Also, the colours match that of watermelon, which could be a fun pun on the fluidity of our orientation.”
Flag Meaning
Dark Green: Represents queer attraction.
Light Green: Represents queer attraction.
White: Represents in-between shifting attraction.
Baby Pink: Represents shift of attraction.
Rich Pink: Represents shift of attraction.
Agender Pride Flag GSRC
Agender: People who identify as having no gender or as gender neutral.
The term Agender can be literally translated to ‘without gender’.
Agender folks may have any type of expression and use any set of pronouns or no pronouns.
History: The Agender flag has seven horizontal stripes and was created in the year of 2014 by Salem X.
The flag was created to represent those within the Agender community.
Agender folks may identify as having no gender, having an undefinable gender, not aligning with any gender, gender-neural or neutrois, or choose not to label their gender.
Another version of the Agender Pride Flag was created by Rumpus Parable in 2014.
This version features three horizontal stripes and uses only two colours.
The black stripe represents those without a gender identity.
The complimenting white stripes are to be inclusive to those who are non-binary and intersex.
The colours black and white were chosen in contrast to the separation of genders and expressions included in other pride flags.
Flag Meaning
Black: Represents the absence of gender.
White: Represents the absence of gender.
Grey: Represents semi-genderless.
Green: Represents non-binary genders.
Androgyne Pride Flag QITW
Androgyne: People who displays a combination of masculine and feminine characteristics into an ambiguous form.
History: An androgynous person is someone who displays a combination of masculine and feminine characteristics into an ambiguous form.
Androgyny may be stated with respect to biological sex, gender identity, and or gender expression.
The androgyne flag includes three vertical stripes, and on July 24th, 2014, Tumblr user saveferris made the flag.
Flag Meaning
Pink: Represents femininity and womanhood.
Blue: Represents masculinity and manhood.
Purple: Represents androgyny.
Aroace Pride Flag GSRC
Aroace: A person who falls somewhere along both the asexual and aromantic spectrum.
History: The Aroace Pride Flag, also referred to as the Sunset Aroace Flag, was created on December 11, 2018, by Jace, on their Tumblr blog @acesflags.
It is meant to represent anyone who is on the asexual spectrum and the aromantic spectrum together.
The flag was made with the aim of creating an aroace flag that wasn’t the aro and ace flags stacked on top of each other.
Flag Meaning
Orange: Community. Orange, like blue, is in between ace purple and aro green on the colour wheel. This represents both the unity of ourselves as aroaces as well as our places in both the aro and ace communities.
Yellow: Love and relationships that exist outside of the conventional and amatonormative ideas of romantic and sexual relationships.
White: Wholeness, used to represent aroaces who are aplatonic, nonamorous, or otherwise not seeking a committed partnership, and how we are all whole people on our own.
Two shades of Blue: The aroace identity as well as the spectrum of aroace identities and experiences. The colour is between aromatic green and asexual purple.
Aromantic Pride Flag GSRC
Aromantic: Someone who does not experience romantic attraction, or does so in a significantly different way than is traditionally thought of.
History: The first aromantic pride flag was a four-stripe design with green, yellow, orange, and black.
Green represented the opposite of red (the colour of romance), yellow played off of yellow flowers which represent friendship, orange because it was between yellow and red (for grey-romantics), and black was for alloromantics who reject the traditional ideas of romance.
It is unknown when this flag was designed, or by whom.
The second aromantic pride flag was a five stripe design of dark-green, light-green, yellow, grey, and black.
This design was created by Tumblr user Cameron (@cameronwhimsy) from Australia on February 7, 2014.
The third and most recent design is the one flown by the GSRC, and is the most widely accepted version, replacing the yellow of the second flag to a white stripe.
This flag was designed by Cameron as well, updating the design themselves on November 16, 2014.
Flag Meaning
Dark Green: Represents aromanticism.
Light Green: Represents the aromantic spectrum.
White: Represents platonic and aesthetic attraction, as well as queer/quasi platonic relationships.
Grey: Represents grey-aromantic and demiromantic people.
Black: Represents the sexuality spectrum.
Asexual Pride Flag GSRC
Asexuality: The lack of sexual attraction to all genders.
History: The asexual flag came about after AVEN (Asexual Visibility and Education Network) held a contest on its forum boards to create a pride flag for those who identify as asexual.
The winning design was posted on June 30, 2010 by AVEN user “standup”.
The colours black, grey, white and purple, were chosen as the same ones that are a part of AVEN’s logo.
Asexuality includes a spectrum of many asexual identities under its umbrella.
Flag Meaning
Black: Asexuality
Grey: Grey-asexuality and demi-sexuality.
White: Non-asexual partners and allies.
Purple: Community
Bear Brotherhood Pride Flag GSRC
Bear Brotherhood: A Bear is a large, hairy queer man who self-identifies with ‘bear’ label. Being a bear combines gender expression, gender identity, and sexuality.
For example, a large, hairy straight man would not be a bear.
History: Created in 1995 by Craig Byrnes to symbolize inclusivity and camaraderie within the community.
Flag Meaning
Brown, rust/orange, yellow, tan, white, grey and black: represent different fur colours of different types of bears
Black Bear Paw Print: represents the bear community
Bigender Pride Flag QITW
Bigender: A person whose identity encompasses two genders.
History: There are many widely used bigender flags – more than most LGBTQ+ identities – which is largely due to accusations around transphobia (among other things) of the original flag creator.
The second most common bigender flag, is by camp-MLM, and it has seven stripes.
Flag Meaning
Pink and Blue: Represents feminine, masculine, androgynous identity.
Top Purple: Represents all kinds of good relationships.
White: Represents a person’s unique bigender experience.
Bottom Purple: Represents self-respect, pride, being true oneself.
Bisexual Pride Flag GSRC
Bisexuality: The physical or romantic attraction to two genders.
History: The word “bisexual” comes from the Greek prefix “bi” meaning “two”.
The bisexual pride flag was created in 1998 by Michael Page, to differentiate the community from the rainbow flag and the gay community.
Page decided to create it after his time at BiNet USA, a non-profit organization.
The flag was unveiled on December 5, 1998, at BiCafe’s (an early bisexual web site) 1st anniversary party.
Flag Meaning
Pink: Representing attraction to those of the same gender identity.
Purple: Representing attraction to two genders.
Blue: Representing attraction to those who identify as a different gender.
Butch Lesbian Pride Flag GSRC
Butch Lesbian: A female-identified person who likes other female-identified people and presents more traditionally “masculine” in appearance.
History: The first butch lesbian pride flag was created in 2016 by tumbler user dorian—rutherford.
The flag was designed for lesbians who do not identify with the lipstick lesbian flag due to its feminine nature.
The original post was deleted from the tumbler, but later resurfaced on deviantart.com. Another variation of the butch flag was created in 2017 by tumbler user butchspace to represent butch positivity.
Both variations of the butch lesbian flag are still slowly gaining traction in the community.
Although the creator never explicitly explained the meaning of the colours, people have guessed that the blue represents masculinity, the purple represents lesbian and woman-identified individuals, and the white represents people across the gender and sexuality spectrums more broadly.
The butch lesbian flag is one variation of several lesbian flags, including the lipstick lesbian flag and labrys lesbian flag.
Flag Meaning
Blue: Represents masculinity.
White: Represents people across the gender and sexuality spectrums more broadly.
Purple: Represents lesbian and woman-identified individuals.
Colorado Pride Flag GSRC
History: The Colorado Pride Flag combines the original Colourado state flag with the rainbow stripes from the LGBTQA+ pride flag.
The “C”, golden disk, and colours were not specifically stated though until 1964.
The flag has rapidly gained popularity since 2016, and can be seen at local pride parades.
Along with the Colorado LGBTQA+ Pride Flag, many other U.S. states have their own versions of their state flags with rainbow colouring added to represent LGBTQA+ Pride.
Flag Meaning
Blue: Represents the sky.
White: Represents the snow-capped mountains.
“C”: For Colorado.
Red: For the clay in the ground.
Yellow: For the sunshine Colourado gets.
Crossdresser Pride Flag L
Crossdresser: Those who crossdress in the cloths of the oposite gender.
History: The consists of two horizonal stripes a vibrant blue background above a hot pink background, with a saltire coloured hot pink on the vibrant blue area, and vibrant blue on the hot pink area.
Flag Meaning
Hot Pink: Traditional colour for baby girls
Vibrant Blue: Traditional colour for baby boys.
Demiboy Pride Flag QITW & GSRC
Demiboy: A person who is partially boy; someone who partially, but not entirely, identifies as a man or otherwise masculine.
Also known as demimale, demiguy, pr demiman.
History: I found two references for the creation of this flag.
The flag proposal for Demiboy was posted by Salem on February 18, 2014, without descriptions for colour meanings.
Tumblr user Transrants designed the demiboy flag in 2015.
However, he didn’t explicitly explain the meaning behind the flag. However, since then, the community has lovingly adopted this flag, and the demiboys who now identify with it have assigned some meaning to it.
Flag Meaning
Blue: Represents manhood or masculinity.
White: Represents non-binary or agender identities.
Greys: Represents the grey areas and partial connections and the possibility of more genders rather than the two on the binary spectrum.
Demigirl Pride Flag QITW & GSRC
Demigirl: A person who is partially girl; someone who partially, but not entirely identifies as a woman or otherwise feminine.
Also known as demifemale, demigal, demiwoman.
History: I found two references for the creation of this flag.
The flag proposal for Demigirl was posted by Salem on February 18, 2014, without descriptions for colour meanings.
The demigirl flag is a symbol for those who identify as either demigender or as a demigirl.
Demigirls are those who identify partially as women.
The flag was created by Tumblr user Transrants in August 2015.
Flag Meaning
Pink: Represents womanhood or femininity.
White: Represents non-binary or agender identities.
Greys: Represents the grey areas and partial connections and the possibility of more genders rather than the two on the binary spectrum.
Demigender Pride Flag QWF
Demigender: Identify partially to a given gender.
History: An umbrella term for a gender in which one is partially, but not fully a given gender.
It can also describe those who feel the barest connections to a gender, but not enough to fully identify as that gender.
Demigender people may identify as another gender in combination with demigender.
Demigender can also be an identity in itself, for people who feel a partial connection to the concept of gender in general.
Demigender people often identify as nonbinary and may also identify as transgender.
Flag Meaning
Greys: Represents genderlessness.
Yellow: Represents non-masculine and non-feminine.
White: Represents all genders.
Demiromantic Pride Flag GSRC
Demiromantic: Feeling romantic attraction to someone only after forming an emotional bond with them. Part of the grey-romantic and broader aromantic community.
Aromantic: Little to no romantic attraction to others.
History: The term demiromantic describes an identity under the asexual and grey-asexual umbrellas.
The coinage of the term is unknown, however a page on The Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN) was created for demiromantic in August 2011 under the lexicon section of the website.
Demiromantic people may use a pre-fix when describing their romantic identity, such as “demi-homoromantic” to future specify their romantic attraction.
Like all romantic identities, demiromantics may have any sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, or expression. Little information is known about the meaning and creation of the demiromantic flag.
However, those within the demiromantic community speculate that it is based off the aromantic flag and AVEN logo.
The flag continues to gain popularity as the aromantic and asexual communities continue to become more visible.
Flag Meaning
Black: Represents sexuality spectrum.
Grey: Represents grey-aromanticism and demiromanticism.
White: Represents platonic and aesthetic attraction, as well as queer/quasi platonic relationships.
Green: Represents aromantic spectrum.
Demisexual Pride Flag GSRC
Demisexual: Feeling sexual attraction to someone only after forming a deep emotional bond with them. Part of the broader asexual community.
History: The term demisexual was coined in 2006 on the forums of The Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN) by user “sonofzeal”, and started to gain widespread popularity in 2008.
“Sonofzeal” felt neither completely asexual nor completely non-asexual, so coining demisexual helped him more accurately describe him needing an emotional as a prerequisite to sexual attraction.
It is unknown how or when the demisexual flag came to be, but it is very similar to the asexual flag in its use of colours, which itself was based off the AVEN logo.
The flag continues to gain popularity as the asexual community continues to become more visible.
Flag Meaning
Black: Represents asexuality.
Grey: Represents asexuality and demi-sexuality.
White: Represents sexuality
Purple: Represents community
Drag Pride Flag GSRC
Drag: A person who dresses in highly decorated clothing, wigs, jewellery, makeup, etc., as a costume and performs for entertainment.
History: The first drag pride flag was created in 1999 by Sean Campbell and was called the Feather Pride Flag.
The next Drag Pride Flag was created as a result of the efforts of the Austin International Drag Festival (AIDF) 2016, more specifically that of Veranda L’Ni, a drag performer from Cleveland, Ohio.
The drag fest is an annual event that encompasses all forms of drag across many platforms around the world. AIDF created a contest to create the official flag of drag.
The contest asked its contestants to create a lasting symbol of a community that loves, shares, embraces, and entertains the crap out of people everywhere.
Flag Meaning
Purple: represents the passion for drag.
White: represents the blank state that is our body and face that we all change to create the characters that we become.
Blue: represents self-expression and loyalty.
Crown: represents leadership in the community.
Stars: represent the many forms of drag.
Gay Men’s Pride’s Flag
previous
Gay Men: A male-identified people who is attracted to other male-identified people.
History: The flag was created by Adam Hasker to represent the attraction between male-identified people and the shades of azure and blue represent the symbolic image of men and gay men in particular.
Flag Meaning
The colours from top to bottom are: Dark Azure, Mid Azure, Light Azure, White, Grey Light Blue, Light Blue and Dark Blue, chosen for the symbolic image of men and gay men in particular.
Gay Men’s Pride Flag GSRC
current
Gay Men: Men who are primarily or exclusively attracted to men in their physical, romantic, and/or emotional attractions.
History: The modern gay men’s pride flag, aka the “Ocean Gay flag” was posted in 2019 on a Tumblr blog called “gayflagblog” as an update of a prior gay men flag.
It features an array of green, blue and purple shades that are representative of a wide range of gay men.
This version replaces the original one that only used blue tones, as it was regarded as a stereotypical representation of the gender binary and lacked meaning for the colours used.
This flag is inclusive of trans gay men.
Flag Meaning
Green: Community
Teal: Healing
Light Teal/Green: Joy
White: Gender non-conforming, non-binary & trans men
Light Blue: Pure love
Indigo: Diversity
Purple: Fortitude
Genderfluid Pride Flag GSRC
Genderfluid: People who have a gender expression/expressions or identity/identities that are not constant or fixed.
History: The genderfluid pride flag was created by JJ Poole in 2013.
The flag's creation was to represent people whose gender identity and/or expression is fluid and may fluctuate at different times or in different circumstances.
The flags five horizontal coloured stripes represent the diversity of gender fluidity, genderfluid identity, and the genderfluid community.
Genderfluid people may also identify as a part of the non-binary community, transgender community, or as multigender.
Genderfluid people may have multiple gender identities, expressions, or use multiple sets of pronouns that fluctuate sometimes, constantly, or in a pattern.
Flag Meaning
Pink: Represents femininity.
White: Represents lack of gender.
Purple: Represents a combination of both masculinity and femininity.
Black: Represents all genders, including genders that do not align with femininity or masculinity.
Blue: Represents masculinity.
Genderflux Pride Flag QITW
Genderflux: A gender identity that varies in intensity over time.
History: Genderflux is a catch-all phrase for gender identities in which one’s gender or sense of the intensity of one’s gender changes over time.
A person who is genderflux experiences a range of intensity within a gender identity.
It is unknown who created the genderflux pride flag, and there are now three new versions; however, the original is most commonly used. It has six strips and six colours.
Flag Meaning
Dark Pink: Represents women
Light Pink: Represents demigirls
Grey: Represents agender
Light Blue: Represents demiboys
Dark Blue: Represents men
Yellow: Represents non-binary
Genderqueer Pride Flag GSRC
Genderqueer: People whose gender identity does not fit within the male/female binary.
History: The flag was created in June 2011 by Marilyn Roxie in order to create visibility for the genderqueer community and related identities.
The flag was originally intended to represent all non-binary and genderqueer people, but as the genderqueer community grew the flag became synonymous with "genderqueer" specifically, leaving many non-binary people to not feel represented by the flag.
A non-binary flag was created in February 2014 by Kye Rowan to represent non-binary people specifically.
Flag Meaning
Lavender: Mixture of “blue” and “pink”. Represents androgyny, and people who identify as a mixture of female and male.
White: Represents agender people.
Dark Chartreuse Green: The inverse of lavender. Represents people who identify outside of and without reference to the gender binary.
Greysexual Pride Flag QITW
Greysexual: A persons who identify as asexual but do not fall into one of the primary kinds of asexuality.
History: Milith Rusignuolo devised the first greysexual flag, which was uploaded to Wikipedia on June 21st, 2013.
It was intended to represent someone starting with no sexual attraction (purple signifying asexuality), then going through a single episode of attraction (grey to white) with white indicating allosexuality from the asexual flag, and then returning to asexuality.
Flag Meaning
Purple: Represents asexuality.
Grey to White: Represents going through a single episode of attraction.
White: Represents allosexuality.
Grey to Purple: Represents returning to asexuality
Purple: Represents asexuality.
Hijra Flag QITW
Hijra: Is a formalized third gender status.
History: As worshippers of the Mother Goddess Bahuchara Mata, their divine abilities are dependent on their asexuality.
These identities do not have a perfect counterpart in the gender and sexual orientation taxonomy, and they provide a challenge to Western notions of sex and gender.
In India, some Hijras describe themselves not by their sexual orientation but by their complete lack of sexuality and tell how sacred powers are created by transforming sexual energy.
A person with the username HijrAnon produced the first known hijra flag in 2016.
The head shape with one-half white and one-half greenish is meant to represent Ardhanarishvara.
Flag Meaning
Dark Red: Represents ambiguity.
White: Represents Lord Shiva
Green: Represents Parvati
Light Green: Represents Ardhanarishvara themselves
Intersex Pride Flag GSRC
Intersex: A person born with physical sex characteristics that don’t fit the traditional definitions for male or female bodies.
History: The intersex flag was unveiled on July 5, 2013 by creator Morgan Carpenter, then co-chair of Organization Intersex International Australia.
Carpenter created the flag as a way to have a commonly understood symbol and flag.
He mentioned that other attempts seemed derivative and sought to create something that had a firmly grounded meaning.
The flag has quickly gained popularity among intersex communities and organizations, thanks in part to its unique design.
A flag that is also used to represent intersex pride and awareness was created in 2009 by Natalie Phox, with blue, pink, purple, and white stripes.
Flag Meaning
Purple: Used because it’s seen as a gender neutral colour.
Yellow: Used because it’s seen as a gender neutral colour.
Circle: Represents wholeness, completeness and the intersex people’s potentiality.
Labrys Lesbian Pride Flag GSRC
Labrys: A double-headed battle axe most commonly associated with the Minoan ancient civilization, the Amazons, and the Greek goddess Demeter.
History: The labrys has been used as a symbol of lesbian and female empowerment since the 1970s.
This double-headed battle axe can be traced back to ancient matriarchal societies, such as the Minoan civilization.
A Minoan woman with a labrys typically held a powerful position within Minoan society.
In Greek mythology, the labrys was associated with harvest from the Greek goddess, Demeter, and the Amazons, a tribe of warrior women.
Because of the background of the labrys, it was adopted by the lesbian radical feminist movement in the 1970s as a symbol of empowerment for women-identified-women.
Flag Meaning
Purple: Represents women, feminism, and all people who identify as a woman attracted to other women.
Black Triangle: Represents lesbians.
Labrys: Represents women empowerment.
Leather Flag A
Leather, Latex, & BDSM: The leather, Latex and Bondage Discipline (or Domination) Sadism (or Submission) Masochism community
History: Whether the kink community should be added in the acronym LGBT is a heated debate, but there is no denying that the community has several of its own flags.
This one was designed by Tony DeBlase for Chicago’s International Mr. Leather celebration in 1989.
This symbol is not exclusively gay, but rather for the leather and BDSM community.
The original flag is on display at the Leather Archives and Museum in Chicago.
Flag Meaning
Black: Represents leather.
Blue: Represents devotion.
White: Represents purity.
Red Heart: Represents love.
Lesbian Pride Flag GSRC
Lesbian: A female-identified person who is attracted to other female-identified people.
History: The word “lesbian” literally means resident of the island Lesbos and became synonymous with women who like women in reference to the island’s most famous resident, Sappho, a female poet who wrote many love poems to other women around 600 BCE.
The use of the term “lesbian” can be traced to sometime in the 1800s. Before that, the term “sapphic” was used to refer to women who liked other women.
The word gained popularity as part of a movement in the late 1960s to differentiate themselves from gay men. This flag was created by Emily Gwen in 2018. There are many other variations of the lesbian flag, including ones specifically for butch lesbians and labrys lesbians.
Flag Meaning
The colours of red, purple, and pink represent traditionally feminine colours.
Maverique Pride Flag GRSC
Maverique: A gender identity characterized by having an autonomous self that exists independently of the gender binary, along with anything derived from those genders, but is not of a neutral gender.
Someone who is maverique possesses a distinct gender rather than being without one.
Maverique is a part of the non-binary umbrella and is a standalone gender label.
History: The Maverique flag was designed by Vesper H. on June 15, 2014.
Flag Meaning
Yellow: Nonbinary and primary colour.
White: Autonomy and independence from the spectrum of colours/genders; white is also symbolic of maverique being based upon a black gender state.
Orange: Inner conviction regarding one’s own gender, and an unorthodox and individualistic nature.
Metagender Pride Flag WCSU MC
Metagender: People who don't consider themselves cisgender or transgender.
History: Metagender has been defined as; “A not insignificant quantity of people consider themselves neither cis nor trans.
For example, some are nonbinary or genderfluid and feel that neither cisgender nor transgender accurately conveys their experience.
Similarly, some agender individuals feel a lack of gender is sufficient to make them not cisgender, but does not make them transgender either.
There is a varied set of reasons why individuals identify in this way, but there is a real linguistic need to describe this space.
It is believed the first metagender flag was created by Tumblr user IMOGA-Pride.
Flag Meaning
Black and White: From Non-Binary and Agender Flags.
Green: Represents Agender.
Yellow: Represents Non-Binary.
Neutrois Pride Flag A
Neutrois: People who identify as gender neutral.
History: The neutrois flag represents those who identify as gender neutral.
While some may use neutrois and agender interchangeably, others say a distinction lies in neutrois-identifying people still have some sense of gender identification.
The white stripe represents neutrality, the green represents something outside pink and blue, and the black stripe represents genderlessness.
Flag Meaning
White: Represents gender-neutral, unidentified, or undecided.
Dark Chartreuse Green: Represents neither female nor male.
Black: Represents agender or genderless.
Non-Binary Pride Flag GSRC
Non-Binary: People whose gender identity does not fit within the traditional male/female binary.
History: The Non-Binary Flag was created by Kyle Rowan in 2014.
The four horizontal stripes of the colours- yellow, white, purple, and black are symbolic for Non-Binary peoples’ experience.
This flag was not created with the intention to replace the Genderqueer flag, but to be flown alongside it.
Flag Meaning
Yellow: Represents those whose gender falls outside of and without reference to the binary.
White: Represents people with many or all genders.
Purple: Represents those whose gender identity falls somewhere between male/female or is a mix of them.
Black: Represents people who feel they are without a gender.
Omnisexual Pride Flag QITW
Omnisexual: People who have a romantic, sexual, or affectional desires for people of all genders and sexes.
History: Omnisexual people are not gender blind, and they see and acknowledge gender.
Omnisexual people are sexually attracted to different genders and sexual orientations, but unlike pansexuality, the gender of the people they are attracted to matters to some degree.
Like most queer identities, omnisexuals have an exclusive LGBTQ+ flag that they fly which includes shades of pink, purple, and blue.
The omnisexual pride flag was created by @pastelmemer in 2015; however, they never explained the exact meaning of the colours.
That has not stopped many omnisexual individuals from putting their feelings to each colour, and the current semi-consensus to what these colours mean is.
Flag Meaning
Pink: Represents attraction to women.
Blue: Represents attraction to men.
Purple: Represents attraction to non-binary people.
Pangender Pride Flag QITW
Pangender: A person who feels comfortable with different kinds of gender labels.
History: Pangender identity is not limited to one gender and may encompass all genders at once.
It comes with an understanding that the vast and diverse multiplicity of genders within the same individual can extend infinitely, always within the person’s own culture and life experience, and may or may not include unknown genders.
Cari Rez Lobo first proposed the Pangender Pride flag in 2015 on Tumblr.
The suggested pride flags for the Pangender Spectrum are based on the agender pride flag.
The colours are extremely vibrant (like the brightness has been turned up) to symbolize the diversity of genders as white light, in the electromagnetic spectrum, is a combination of all colours.
Flag Meaning
Yellow: Represents all genders.
Light Red-Pink: Represents transition between the genders of female and male.
Light Violet-Pink Represents female and male.
Whit: Represents the union of all of these genders.
Pansexual Pride Flag GSRC
Pansexuality: The attraction to people regardless of their gender identity.
History: The word “pansexual” comes from the Greek prefix “pan” meaning “all”.
Pansexuality differs from bisexuality in that people who identify as pansexual are emotionally or physically attracted to all genders, regardless of sex or gender identity, whereas bisexuality is defined as people who are emotionally or physically attracted to two genders.
The pansexual pride flag was created to differentiate between the bisexuality flag, which also has three horizontal bars.
It was created on the internet sometime around 2010, and has gained popularity since then.
Flag Meaning
Pink: Representing attraction to those who identify as female.
Yellow: Representing attraction to those who identify as genderqueer, non-binary, agender, androgynous, or anyone who doesn’t identify on the male-female binary.
Blue: Representing attraction to those who identify as male.
Pink Triangle Pride Flag WCSU
Pink Triangle: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning/Queer, Asexual, and all other identities that fall into the LGBTQA+ community.
History: This brightly coloured symbol is now often worn proudly, but it was born from a dark period in LGBTQ history and world history.
Just as the Nazis forced Jewish people to wear a yellow Star of David, they forced people they labelled as gay to wear inverted pink triangles (or ‘die Rosa-Winkel’).
Those thus branded were treated as “the lowest of the low in the camp hierarchy,” as one scholar put it.
It’s thought that somewhere between 5,000 and 15,000 men were sent to concentration camps for reasons related to sexuality, but exactly how many died in them may never be known.
Flying the pink triangle is a reminder of the past and a pledge that history will not repeat itself.
This symbol was widely replaced by the creation of the rainbow pride flag.
Flag Meaning
A reminder of the past and a pledge that history will not repeat itself.
Polyamorous Pride Flag A
1995
Polyamory: The ability to love multiple people and or be involved in multiple relationships within the context of mutual consent.
History: Featuring the symbol for the infinite number pi, which shares the first letter of "polyamory," this flag celebrates the infinite selection of partners available to polyamorous people.
The letter is gold to represent the emotional attachment we have with others as friends and romantic partners, rather than just our carnal relationships.
Flag Meaning
Blue: Represents the openness and honesty of all parties involved in the relationships.
Red: Represents love and passion.
Black: Represents solidarity with those who must hide their polyamorous relationships from the outside world.
Gold: Represents the value of relationship, emotional attachment, either friendly or romantic, as opposed to merely physical relationships.
Pi (π) symbol: Shares the first letter of polyamory.
Polyamorous Pride Flag GSRC
Polyamory: The ability to love multiple people and/or be involved in multiple relationships within the context of mutual consent.
History: The original polyamorous pride flag was created in the Pacific Northwest in early fall of 1995 by Jim Evans, who wanted to create an anonymous symbol for the polyamorous community that could be acknowledged and shared by those who knew the symbol.
With the advent of the internet, people began to discover the flag, and it grew in popularity and use.
A modified version was created in Colorado in 2017 by the University of Northern Colorado Poly Community, one that has the infinity hearts symbol, a common symbol of the polyamorous community, instead of Evans' original pi symbol.
Flag Meaning
Blue: Represents the openness and honesty of all parties involved in the relationships.
Red: Represents love and passion.
Black: Represents solidarity with those who must hide their polyamorous relationships from the outside world.
Yellow: The value placed on emotional attachment to others.
Infinity Heart Sign: Represents the infinite love for multiple partners at the same time.
Polyamory Pride Flag P
Polyamory: A united non-monogamous community is one which honours, includes, and empowers all forms of and approaches to consensual non-monogamy
History: The intention behind this design was to create a simple, bold tricolour, with a contemporary approach to traditional vexillological (relating to the study of flags) elements from the original “Pi” flag.
It takes the best of the original flag, including its colour symbolism, and improves on those elements of the Pi flag which alienated viewers.
A chevron points toward the opposite end of the flag, a symbol of growth and progress, and sits asymmetrically on the flag to reflect the non-traditional style of polyamorous relationships.
The heart within reminds us that love in all forms is the core of non-monogamy.
Flag Meaning
White: The chevron's white represents possibility
Magenta: Stands for desire, love, and attraction
Blue: Stands for openness and honesty
Gold: Represents the energy and perseverance
Purple: Represents a united non-monogamous community
Polysexual Pride Flag GSRC
Polysexual: Someone who is sexually attracted to multiple, but not all, genders.
Polyromantic: Someone who is romantically attracted to multiple, but not all, genders.
History: On July 11, 2012, a flag designed by a Tumblr user with the signature “Samlin” submitted or posted a design to the blog @f***yeahpolysexuality, explaining their design: “I, as a poly individual, was greatly saddened by the fact that we don’t have a flag…so I made one :P I made it similar to the bi and pan flags, since they’re all in under the multisexual umbrella. -Samlin”.
The colours and design of the flag are based off the bisexual and pansexual flags, borrowing the blue and pink, and replacing the purple and yellow stripes with a green one.
Flag Meaning
Pink: Represents attraction to female-identified people.
Green: Represents attraction to people who identify outside the traditional male-female binary.
Blue: Represents attraction to male-identified people.
Pony Flag A & MC
Pony: The flag represents the pony play fetish and its community.
History: The flag was designed by Carrie P in 2007, and represents those who enjoy the competition aspect of pony play which is a distinct fetish where people are treated like horses by wearing hooves, ears, and saddles and pulling carts
and running free in the fields.
Flag Meaning
Black: Represents solidarity with the leather community.
White: Represents the pure inner spirit within each pony.
Blue: Represents ponies who strive to exceed at their craft and denim for all the cowboys and cowgirls.
Green: Represents the grass and running free in the fields.
Horseshoes: Represent horses in their natural habitat.
Pride of Africa Flag
Pride of Africa: This is the first pan-African LGBTQ+ flag.
History: The flag was created by the Pride of Africa Foundation, and debuted at Johannesburg Pride in 2019.
Flag Meaning
It is inspired by the flags of all the countries in Africa.
Gilbert Baker Pride Flag A
LGBTQA+: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning/Queer, Asexual, and all other identities that fall into the LGBTQA+ community.
History: In 1977, Harvey Milk challenged Gilbert Baker, a veteran who taught himself to sew, to come up with a symbol of pride for the gay community.
His response? The original Pride flag. Inspired by Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow," these colours flew at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade celebration on June 25, 1978.
Though some dispute whether Baker was the sole creator of the flag that started it all, its symbolism remains.
Flag Meaning
Hot Pink: Sex
Red: Life
Orange: Healing
Yellow: Sunlight
Green: Nature
Turquoise: Magic and Art
Indigo: Serenity
Violet: Spirit
Pride Flag MC
1978-1979
LGBTQA+: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning/Queer, Asexual, and all other identities that fall into the LGBTQA+ community.
History: Milk was assassinated in 1978, and demand for the flag increased as people wanted to show their support.
Apparently Baker had trouble getting the pink color, so the flag began selling with seven colours instead.
Flag Meaning
Red: Life
Orange: Healing
Yellow: Sunlight
Green: Nature
Turquoise: Magic and Art
Blue: Serenity
Violet: Spirit
Rainbow Pride Flag GSRC
1979 to present day
LGBTQA+: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning/Queer, Asexual, and all other identities that fall into the LGBTQA+ community.
History: The rainbow flag representing the LGBTQA+ community was created by Gilbert Baker, and first flown in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978.
The original flag consisted of eight horizontal stripes, pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, indigo, and violet, but pink was removed after a year due to fabric shortages.
In 1979 turquoise was removed so it could be split into two equal half and be hung on lap post along the San Francisco Pride Parade route, and the indigo stripe was changed to blue.
It’s been rumoured that Baker might have been emulating the song “Over the Rainbow” by Judy Garland (one of the first gay icons), the Stonewall Riots, or based off a flag for world peace flown at campuses nationwide in the 1960’s.
Baker’s life changed when he met the first openly gay politician, Harvey Milk in 1974.
Milk challenged Baker to come up with a symbol for the gay community in 1977.
After Milk’s assassination on November 27, 1978, demands for the flag rapidly increased.
The rainbow flag has grown immensely in visibility and acceptance and is now widely accepted as the predominant symbol for the LGBTQA+ community.
Also in June 2015, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) acquired the original flag. Gilbert Baker died on March 31, 2017, but his legacy will always live on.
Flag Meaning
Red: Life
Orange: Healing
Yellow: Sunlight
Green: Nature
Blue: Serenity
Violet: Spirit
Philadelphia Pride Flag GSRC
LGBTQA+: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Asexual, and all other identities that fall into the LGBTQA+ community across the gender, sexuality, and romantic spectrums.
QPOC: Queer People of Colour. Members of the queer community who are also people of colour.
History: The QPOC inclusive LGBTQA+ Pride flag is based on the current widely accepted LGBTQA+ Pride Flag, the 6 colour rainbow flag, first created by gilbert baker in 1978.
The QPOC inclusive LGBTQA+ flag or “ Philadelphia Pride Flag” was unveiled on June 8, 2017 at a pride month kick-off event at Philadelphia City Hall.
The Philadelphia Pride flag adds two stripes, black and brown, to the traditional six of the rainbow flag.
The design was created by Philadelphia based PR agency Tierney for Philadelphia's “More Colour More Pride'' campaign, which aims to showcase the city's commitment to people of colour in the queer community.
Adding the black and brown stripes is a small but powerful step for inclusivity in the LGBTQA+ community.
Flag Meaning
Black and Brown: Queer People of Colour
Red: Life
Orange: Healing
Yellow: Sunlight
Green: Nature
Blue: Harmony/Peace
Violet: Spirit
Progress Pride Flag GSRC
LGBTQIA+: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning/Queer, Intersex, Asexual, and all other identities that fall into the LGBTQAI+ community across the gender, sexuality, and romantic spectrums.
QPOC: Queer People of Colour. Members of the Queer community who are also People of Colour.
History: First created in June 2018, the graphic artist Daniel Quasar designed Progress Pride Flag to highlight and honour Queer People of Colour and the Transgender community.
This flag has been adapted from the Baker Pride Flag (1978) also known as the “Retro 8” pride flag, and the Philadelphia Pride Flag (2017) which was introduced as a part of the city of Philadelphia’s “More Colour More Pride” campaign.
Quasar kept the original rainbow flag six colours to honour their meaning with an addition of the Trans flag, Black, and Brown arrow that points to the right to signify forward movement within LGBTQ+ rights.
Quasar states that, "This new design forces the viewer to reflect on their own feelings towards the original Pride flag and its meaning as well as the differing opinions on who that flag really represents, while also bringing into clear focus the current needs within our community."
Flag Meaning
Black and Brown: Black and Lantinx Queer Communities
Transgender Flag: Transgender Communities
Red: Life
Orange: Healing
Yellow: Sunlight
Green: Nature
Blue: Harmony/Peace
Violet: Spirit
Intersex Progress Pride Flag WCSU
LGBTQIA+: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning/Queer, Intersex, Asexual, and all other identities that fall into the LGBTQAI+ community across the gender, sexuality, and romantic spectrums.
QPOC: Queer People of Colour. Members of the Queer community who are also People of Colour.
Intersex: A person born with physical sex characteristics that don’t fit the traditional definitions for male or female bodies.
History: In 2021, Valentino Vecchietti of Intersex Equality Rights UK developed the Intersex Pride Progress flag design to incorporate the intersex flag.
Taking inspiration from Daniel Quasar’s trans-inclusive 2018 redesign and the Philadelphia Office of LGBT affairs’ flag iteration which included Black and Brown stripes to represent queer people of colour, the newly designed Pride flag is one that acknowledges the important history of Pride flags.
Vecchietti said, “My intention in creating this iteration of the flag with visible intersex inclusion is to create some much-needed intersex joy.
We also hope that it will increase allyship from the LGBTQA community.”
Flag Meaning
Purple: Used because it’s seen as a gender neutral colour
Yellow: Used because it’s seen as a gender neutral colour
Circle: Represents wholeness, completeness and the intersex people’s potentiality
Transgender Flag: Transgender Communities
Black and Brown: Black and Lantinx Queer Communities
Red: Life
Orange: Healing
Yellow: Sunlight
Green: Nature
Blue: Harmony/Peace
Violet: Spirit
Queer Pride Flag QITW
Queer: An identity in and of itself.
History: Queer is a sort of label for those who don’t want to put themselves in a box.
Often considered a movement, queer people are those who fall outside of and/or renounce the cultural norms around sexuality, gender identity, and/or gender expression.
The word queer can mean different things to different people, but the most accepted definition is someone who is not cishet or someone with variant experiences with orientation, gender, and/or sex.
One of the first flags created explicitly as the “queer flag” was designed by Pastelmemer in 2015.
There are not many alternative flags but this still the most popular.
Flag Meaning
Pinks: Represents same-gender attraction.
Blues: Represents same-gender attraction.
Orange and Green: Represents non-binary individuals.
Black and White: Represents asexual, aromantic, and agender spectrum individuals.
QPOC Pride Flag MC
QPOC: Queer People of Colour
History: As a representation of Queer People of Colour, it's not known who the original creator of the flag was but represents solidarity with the BLM movement as well as the intersection of the queer and Black communities (including the importance of figures like Marsha P. Johnson, the Black drag queen who may have thrown the first brick at the Stonewall Inn riots) to the movements.
No surprise, the flag has become more popular in 2020 and beyond.
The raised fist is a sign of unity and support as well as defiance and resistance, and the various colours on the fist represent diversity.
Sometimes called the Resistance Flag according to Them writer Matt Baume: "The modern LGBTQ+ liberation movement was touched off by queer and trans people of colour and their struggle continues to this day, with both communities seeking justice, equality, and freedom from oppression.
And because many people belong to both communities, they’re not two distinct causes but instead overlap."
Flag Meaning
Red: Life
Orange: Healing
Yellow: Sunlight
Green: Nature
Blue: Harmony and Peace
Violet: Spirit
Browns: People of Colour
Rubber Pride Flag A
Rubber: Members of the rubber/latex fetish community
History: This symbol is for members of the rubber and latex fetish community and is similar to its predecessor, the leather Pride flag.
Peter Tolos and Scott Moats created the design in 1995 "as a means to identifying like-minded men and it reflects the sensory, sensual, and mental passion we have for rubber".
They say the black colour represents "our lust for the look and feel for shiny black rubber," the red symbolizes "our blood passion for rubber and rubbermen," while yellow highlights "our drive for intense rubber play and fantasies." It also features a literal kink, for obvious reasons.
Flag Meaning
Black: Reflects the look and feel of shiny black rubber
Red: Reflects passion for rubber
Yellow: Reflects rubber play and fantasy
Straight Pride Flag MC
LGBTQIA+: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning/Queer, Intersex, Asexual, and all other identities that fall into the LGBTQAI+ community across the gender, sexuality, and romantic spectrums.
Straight: Straight LGBTQIA+ allies
History: Sometimes known as the ally pride flag, this is a combination of different symbols—the straight flag is black and white stripes, the traditional pride flag is a rainbow—and the combination is meant to show allyship for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Flag Meaning
Red: Life
Orange: Healing
Yellow: Sunlight
Green: Nature
Blue: Harmony and Peace
Violet: Spirit
Black and White: Represents straight people
Stud/Black Lesbian Flag GSRC
Black Lesbian/Stud: A Black-identified person that is primarily or exclusively attracted to women and femmes; a culture-specific identity that is often defined as a black masculine lesbian.
History: Created by user @afroemostar, this flag was made to bring light to Black lesbians that celebrate their identity as completely independent from the white lesbian experience.
The colours are meant to resemble the range of brown tones found within the Black community.
Shades of brown: varying tones and shades of Blackness
Toric Pride Flag QWF
Toric: A Non-Binary person, exclusively or not, attracted men.
History: Originally, the term quadrisian was coined by Tumblr user demisexual-yuri on or before July 19th, 2017.
Quadrisian is based on the Latin word for rectangle, quad, due to the fact that men and masculinity are often represented by rectangles and angular shapes in western art.
In collaboration with some friends, including demisexual-yuri, toric was coined by Tumblr user bigendering on a Discord server on July 20th, 2017.
The term toric originates from the Latin suffix tor, denoting masculine agent nouns such as cantor.
The feminine counterpart is trixic.
Flag Meaning
Green and Purple: Non-binary.
Blue: Attraction to men.
Symbol: Non-binary symbol overlapping the symbol for men.
Trans Pride Flag GSRC
Transgender: People whose gender identity doesn’t align with the sex they were assigned at birth.
History: The transgender pride flag was created in 1999 by Monica Helms, a transgender navy veteran, and first flown at a pride parade in Phoenix in 2000.
The design and colours were carefully chosen by Helms.
That first flag she created now flies at the Smithsonian Natural Museum of American History.
Since its debut in 2000, the trans pride flag has grown to be the prevailing symbol of the transgender community.
It was flown in San Francisco’s Castro District on the November 19, 2012, in honour of Transgender Day of Remembrance.
It was also displayed in the White House during Pride Month in June 2016.
Flag Meaning
Light Blue: Represents the traditional colour for boys.
Light Pink: Represents the traditional colour for girls.
White: Represents those who are intersex, transitioning, or see themselves as having a neutral or undefined gender.
Trigender Pride Flag QITW
Trigender: A person who switches between or among several genders.
History: Trigender is a gender identity in which a person switches between or among several genders, including a third gender (genderless, a mix of masculine and feminine, or any other variety of genderqueer identities).
Dependent on the individual’s mood or environment, a trigender individual may change from one gender to another.
An unknown person developed the trigender flag, and the first known use was on July 4th, 2015.
The trigender pride flag has five stripes and three colours.
Flag Meaning
Pink: Represents femininity and female genders.
Blue: Represents masculinity and male genders.
Green: Represents androgyny and third/other genders
Trixic Pride Flag QWF
Trixic: A Non-Binary person, exclusively or not, attracted women.
History: Trixic, also known as orbisian, is a diamoric orientation referring to non-binary individuals who are, exclusively or not,
attracted to women.
The term can be shortened to NBLW (nonbinary-loving-women).
Any non-binary individual of any alignment can use the term trixic. If the individual wishes to specify that their attraction is exclusive, the term feminamoric could be used.
The term orbisian was created by Tumblr user demisexual-yuri.
Trixic was then coined by bigendering and some friends on a discord server (including Tumblr user demisexual-yuri) on Tumblr on July 20th, 2017.
Flag Meaning
Purple and Yellow: Non-binary.
Pink: Attraction to women.
Symbol: Non-binary symbol overlapping the symbol for women.
Twink Pride Flag A
Twink: A term for a slim, young, handsome, hairless men.
History: The twink flag features a pink top and yellow bottom and two Mars signs intertwine representing gay men.
The origin of the flag is unknown, much like the origin of the word "twink".
The term refers to slim, young, handsome, hairless men.
It may come from the British slang "twank," which referred to a client of a gay sex worker, according to The New York Times.
Others say it's from the Hostess snack, the Twinkie.
Flag Meaning
Pink: Representing femininity.
Yellow: Representing independence.
Symbol: Represents gay men.
Two-Spirit Pride Flag GSRC
Two-Spirit: An umbrella term to identify queer Native American individuals with traditional and cultural understandings of gender roles and identity.
History: Two-spirit is a concept that existed before European colonization of North America.
Tribes described two-spirit individuals in different ways; however, they shared similar characteristics.
Two-spirit individuals traditionally were viewed as holding a masculine and feminine spirit.
They held a gender identity outside of the binary man or woman.
They were designated social roles that were for men and women, such as artist, hunter, ceremonial leader or healer.
Two-spirit individuals expressed their gender in ways that did not conform to only man or woman.
According to tradition, two-spirit identity was a result of supernatural intervention in the form of dreams or visions and aligned with tribal mythology.
Some two-spirit individuals also formed intimate relationships with non-two-spirit people of the same sex.
Flag Meaning
Two Feathers: Represents masculine and feminine identities.
Circle: Represents the unification of masculine and feminine identities into a separate gender.
Rainbow Colours: Represents modern
Sources
University Of Northern Colorado Pride Flags (unco.edu)
Marie Claire magazine 31 LGBTQ+ Pride Flags and What They Mean | Marie Claire
Advocate 31 Queer Pride Flags to Know (advocate.com)
Queerdom Wiki Fandom Queerdom Wiki | Fandom
Western Connecticut State University Pride Flags – WCSU Pride Center
Queer In The World What Exactly Is The Genderflux Pride Flag, And What Does It Mean? (queerintheworld.com)
Hunan Rights Campaign HRC | LGBTQ+ Pride Flags
Polyamproud New Tricolor Polyamory Pride Flag | PolyamProud
Library.LGBT- Pride Flag Guide Pride Flag Guide: Crossdresser | Library.LGBT
Compiled by: Carolyne O’Reilly