Towards A Universal Lesbian Flag
If you’re a lesbian on the internet I’m sure you’re aware of the lengthy discussions surrounding the lack of consensus about our community’s pride flag. This new addition may be a symptom of that problem, but I also hope that it provides a solution.
First of all, what’s wrong with the current flags going around? I think a major issue is that they break rules of good flag design. A good flag is simple enough that it can be drawn by hand — the gradient flags are difficult to reproduce from a set of basic colors, especially if you try to recreate them out of actual fabric. The specific colors of the gradient flags are often hard to remember and this is made clear when reproductions of them seem to have copy-pasted them from a google search. An ideal flag is something that a kid could draw with plain old markers.
It’s worth mentioning that the pink gradient flag was initially intended for “lipstick lesbian” pride — it was never meant to be a universal lesbian flag, and many people have expressed alienation from it. The pink/orange version of it attempts to recognize a broader sense of the community, but suffers from the same design flaws.
I find that many other flag proposals either lack visual coherence, try to incorporate too many elements, or have little symbolic meaning in their creation and seem to tack them on as an afterthought.
My answer to all of this is the following:
This tricolor flag is both distinctive and simple, while holding plenty of symbolic meaning.
Violet — The giving of violet flowers has historically been associated with lesbian love. Violet was used in the labrys flag (which has fallen out of popularity due to its use of the black triangle — it is still debated whether or not it is appropriate to reclaim this symbol.) The color purple has long been associated with homosexuality and LGBT activism in general. This stripe represents both the rich history of lesbian communities as well as our essential place in the broader LGBT community.
Pink — This stripe’s color is taken directly from the gradient flags. It retains its meaning of proud femininity.
Orange — Inspired by the “butch” recolor of the gradient flag, this color represents gender-nonconformity in women (orange being the opposite color to blue in color theory.) Gender non-conforming women are often under-represented while historically facing the brunt of homophobia on the front lines of LGBT activism. This stripe highlights their importance to the community.
The effect of the three colors subtly references the pink/orange gradient flag without being a direct edit of it. Most importantly, it is easy to reproduce in pride art and merchandise.
This flag has no white stripe between orange and pink and instead places them next to each other, as a nod to butch/femme culture and its significance to lesbian history. It also indicates that butch/femme is a specific subculture under the lesbian label, rather than a spectrum that all lesbians must fall on.
(Some bonus color symbolism — this flag is reminiscent of a sunset, a phenomenon caused by the filtering out of blue light — here, a nod to the lesbian ideal of always prioritizing women.)
This flag also lends itself well to edits that include text or symbols:
All three of these colors are also found in Gilbert Baker’s original pride flag.
And there we have it! A lesbian pride flag that references history, streamlines elements of previous iterations, and is easy to replicate and distribute.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you give this design some thought. Got any criticism? Praise? Please comment or send a message. All feedback is greatly appreciated!
