Source Record
The Ultimate Guide to LGBTQ Flags and Their History | Teen Vogue
Why this source is used
Magazine explainer on community Pride flags; used where no live designer statement survives.
Source Status
- Publisher
- Teen Vogue
- Type
- secondary
- Reliability
- medium
- Cited by
- 15 pages
Source Links
Used by Timeline Events
Polyamorous Pride Flag Created by Jim Evans
Jim Evans created an early polyamorous pride flag using blue, red and black stripes with a gold pi symbol. The design gave polyamorous communities a reusable visual marker: blue for openness and honesty, red for love, black for solidarity with those who must keep their relationships hidden, and the gold pi chosen as the Greek first letter of 'polyamory'.
Bisexual Pride Flag Created by Michael Page
Michael Page created the bisexual pride flag in 1998 to give bisexual people a distinct, recognisable symbol within Pride spaces. Its pink, purple and blue bands represent same-sex attraction, the blend of both and attraction to a different sex.
Monica Helms Designs the Transgender Pride Flag
Monica Helms designed the transgender pride flag in 1999, and it was first shown publicly in 2000. The symmetrical blue, pink and white stripes were designed so the flag is correct whichever way it is flown, reflecting that there is no wrong way to be trans.
Straight Ally Pride Flag Circulates
By the late 2000s, the straight ally flag was circulating as a symbol for non-LGBTQ+ people who wanted to show visible support for LGBTQ+ equality without claiming identity-specific pride symbols as their own. The design combines black-and-white straight-flag stripes with a rainbow A or chevron for allyship.
Online Orientation Pride Flags Expand in the 2010s
During the 2010s, Tumblr, AVEN-adjacent spaces and other online LGBTQ+ communities accelerated the spread of orientation-specific pride flags. Designs for abrosexual, demiromantic, demisexual, gay men, greysexual and panromantic communities circulated with varying levels of creator attribution and standardisation.
Online Gender Identity Pride Flags Expand in the 2010s
Across the 2010s, online LGBTQ+ communities developed and circulated a growing family of gender-identity and derivative pride flags. Several designs, including agender boy, agender girl, androgyne, bigender, gender-questioning, genderflux, neutrois, transfeminine and transmasculine flags, have useful community meanings but less settled creator trails.
Genderqueer Pride Flag Created by Marilyn Roxie
Marilyn Roxie created the genderqueer pride flag, making the first version in September 2010 and finalising the design in 2011. Lavender, white and green were chosen to mark androgyny and queerness, agender or neutral identity, and identities outside binary gender categories.
Polysexual Pride Flag Created
The polysexual pride flag, commonly attributed to Tumblr user Samlin in 2012, uses pink, green and blue to mark attraction to women, nonbinary people and men while distinguishing polysexuality from pansexuality.
Genderfluid Pride Flag Created
The genderfluid pride flag was created by JJ Poole in 2012 and shared through a Tumblr blog about genderfluidity. Its pink, white, purple, black and blue stripes are commonly read as femininity, absence of gender, multiple genders, all genders and masculinity.
Aromantic Pride Flag Created by Cameron Whimsy
Cameron Whimsy created the modern aromantic pride flag in 2014, using green tones, white, grey and black to represent the aromantic spectrum, platonic love and friendship, and the wider sexuality spectrum.
Agender Pride Flag Created by Salem X
Salem X created the agender pride flag in 2014. Its black, grey, white and green palette is commonly read as absence of gender, partial gender, all genders or neutrality, and nonbinary identity outside the pink-blue gender binary.
Demiboy and Demigirl Pride Flags Created
The demiboy and demigirl pride flags are commonly attributed to Salem X or Salom X in 2014, with spelling varying by source. Both designs adapt grey and white neutrality language with blue or pink tones to express partial alignment with boyhood or girlhood.
Nonbinary Pride Flag Created by Kye Rowan
Kye Rowan created the nonbinary pride flag in 2014 to sit alongside, rather than replace, the genderqueer flag. Yellow, white, purple and black represent genders outside the binary, many or all genders, mixed gender experience and people without gender.
Omnisexual Pride Flag Created
The omnisexual pride flag is commonly attributed to Tumblr user pastelmemer in 2015. Its pink, dark purple and blue palette signals attraction to women, nonbinary people and men while retaining a distinction from pansexuality by acknowledging gender within attraction.
Inclusive Lesbian Pride Flag Popularised
The orange-pink lesbian pride flag associated with Emily Gwen was popularised in 2018 after earlier lesbian flags were contested. The commonly used five-stripe derivative simplified the design while retaining the inclusive colour language.
