Lesbian flags

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Lesbians wearing the Pink flag (left) and Orange-Pink flag (right) at Berlin Pride 2022 CSD Berlin 2022 - Lucas Werkmeister - 22 - Lesbian Pride.jpg
Lesbians wearing the Pink flag (left) and Orange-Pink flag (right) at Berlin Pride 2022

Lesbian flags are pride flags used to symbolise the lesbian community. Since the design of the labrys lesbian flag in 1999, many designs have been proposed and used, including the controversial lipstick lesbian flag. A five-stripe variant of the 2018 Orange-Pink lesbian flag is most widely used by the community today.

Contents

History

Labrys flag

The Labrys lesbian flag consists of a labrys (a double-headed axe) superimposed on an inverted black triangle, set against a violet background. It was designed in 1999 by graphic designer Sean Campbell, and published in June 2000 in the Palm Springs edition of the Gay and Lesbian Times Pride issue. [1] [2]

The lesbian feminist movement adopted the labrys as a symbol in the 1970s, due to its association with the Amazons of Greek mythology. [3] [4] [5] The black triangle was used in Nazi concentration camps as a badge of shame to mark "asocials" (including Roma and Sinti people, disabled people, and gay women). [6] [7] Some lesbians reappropriated the symbol, similarly to the pink triangle. [7] The color violet is associated with lesbians via the poetry of Sappho. [8]

Lipstick flag

The lipstick lesbian flag consists of seven horizontal stripes in a gradient from dark magenta (top) to white (center) to red (bottom), with a red kiss mark superimposed in the top left corner. [9] [10] It was designed in 2010 by lesbian blogger Natalie McCray, and symbolizes lipstick lesbians—slang for highly feminine lesbians. [11] [12] The flag has not been widely adopted [1] due to some lesbians complaining that it is not inclusive of butch lesbians, while others have argued that McCray wrote biphobic, racist, and transphobic comments on her now-defunct blog. [2]

Pink flag

The Pink lesbian flag uses the colors of the lipstick flag, with the kiss mark removed. [10] The flag attracted more use as a general lesbian pride flag. [13] Its original creator is unknown.

Orange-Pink flag

The Orange-Pink lesbian flag (sometimes called the "sunset" flag) combines the three magenta stripes from McCray's lipstick flag with three orange stripes from a butch flag created by Tumblr user butchspace.[ citation needed ] This version of a flag was created by Tumblr blogger Emily Gwen in 2018, [14] and popularized by a separate Tumblr poll seeking an official flag for the community. [15] [16] [17] According to Gwen, the flag's seven colors symbolize: (1) red-orange: gender non-conformity, (2) orange: independence, (3) light orange: community, (4) white: unique relationships to womanhood, (5) pink: serenity and peace, (6) dusty pink: love and sex, (7) dark rose: femininity. [18] [17]

A five-stripe version was soon derived, omitting the second and sixth stripes. [17] [19] As of 2025, the five-stripe variant has become the most commonly used lesbian flag. [20] [21]

Flags at events

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Bendix, Trish (8 September 2015). "Why don't lesbians have a pride flag of our own?". AfterEllen . Archived from the original on 9 September 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  2. 1 2 Brabaw, Kasandra (20 June 2019). "A Complete Guide To All The LGBTQ+ Flags & What They Mean". Refinery29 . Archived from the original on 12 March 2021.
  3. ↑ "Gay Symbols Through the Ages". The Alyson Almanac: A Treasury of Information for the Gay and Lesbian Community. Boston, Massachusetts: Alyson Publications. 1989. pp.  99–100. ISBN   0-932870-19-8.
  4. ↑ Murphy, Timothy F., ed. (2000). Reader's Guide to Lesbian and Gay Studies (1st ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. p.  44. ISBN   1-57958-142-0.
  5. 1 2 Zimmerman, Bonnie, ed. (2000). "Symbols (by Christy Stevens)". Lesbian Histories and Cultures: An Encyclopedia . Vol. 1 (Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures) (1st ed.). Garland Publishing. p. 748. ISBN   0-8153-1920-7.
  6. ↑ "Lesbians Under the Nazi Regime". Holocaust Encyclopedia . United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 31 March 2021. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  7. 1 2 Elman, R. Amy. "Triangles and Tribulations: The Politics of Nazi Symbols". Remember.org. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016. (Originally published in the Journal of Homosexuality , 1996, 30 (3): pp.1–11, doi : 10.1300/J082v30n03_01, ISSN   0091-8369)
  8. ↑ Prager, Sarah (29 January 2020). "Four Flowering Plants That Have Been Decidedly Queered (Sapphic Violets)". JSTOR Daily . Archived from the original on 3 February 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  9. ↑ McCray, Natalie (July 2010). "LLFlag". This Lesbian Life. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  10. 1 2 Rawles, Timothy (12 July 2019). "The many flags of the LGBT community". San Diego Gay & Lesbian News . Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  11. ↑ Mathers, Charlie (1 January 2018). "18 Pride flags you might not have seen before". Gay Star News . Archived from the original on 1 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2019. (The Mathers article shows the derivative design, but not the original flag.)
  12. 1 2 Redwood, Soleil (26 February 2020). "A Horniman Lesbian Flag". Horniman Museum . Archived from the original on 16 August 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  13. 1 2 Andersson, Jasmine (4 July 2019). "Pride flag guide: what the different flags look like, and what they all mean". i . Archived from the original on 15 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  14. ↑ sadlesbeandisaster (3 June 2018). "Honestly my ideal lesbian pride flag would be the pink one and the orange one flowing into each other [...]". Tumblr .
  15. ↑ official-lesbian-flag (31 July 2018). "the search for the official lesbian flag". Tumblr . Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  16. ↑ Dastagir, Alia E.; Oliver, David (1 June 2021). "LGBTQ Pride flags go beyond the classic rainbow. Here's what each one means". USA Today . Archived from the original on 1 June 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  17. 1 2 3 4 "LGBTQIA+ Symbols: New Lesbian Flag(s)". Old Dominion University . April 2020. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  18. ↑ Gwen, Emily (6 June 2018). "can people please acknowledge THIS version of the meanings and not the other one because I keep getting messages about the other one…". Tumblr . Archived from the original on 21 January 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  19. 1 2 Murphy-Kasp, Paul (6 July 2019). "Pride in London: What do all the flags mean?". BBC News . Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2019. (video)
  20. ↑ Vargas, Alani (30 May 2025). "What Does the Lesbian Flag Look Like? Here's Why You Might See So Many Variations of It". Parade . Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  21. ↑ "Flags of the LGBTIQ Community". OutRight Action International . 3 October 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  22. ↑ "More Variations of the Gay Pride Rainbow Flag (2): Rainbow flags with double Venus symbol". Flags of the World . 21 September 2023. Archived from the original on 25 June 2024. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
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