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The Origin of the Gay Men’s Pride Flag and Its Meaning

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The (cis, white) gay man has always been at the centre of pride movements, but as people opened their minds to include all LGBTQ+ identities in the movement, the rainbow flag increasingly solidified its position as one that represents the entire LGBTQ+ community.

Over time, demand grew for a flag that specifically represents gay men. This 5-coloured (and sometimes 7-coloured) gay men pride flag was designed in 2019 by Tumblr user @gayflagblog, but it wasn’t without controversy.

Accusations that the creator of the flag is transphobic, and that the design was stolen from the sunset lesbian flag, were rampant. However, those claims have since been debunked, and the flag became increasingly accepted within the community.

Meaning behind the colours:

  • Turquoise to green colours represent community, healing, and joy
  • White represents gender nonconforming, non-binary, and transgender folks
  • Blue to purple colours represent pure love, fortitude, and diversity

While the gay men’s pride flag is another lesser known pride flag. It features different shades of green, blue and purple.

This modern gay men’s pride flag is a revamp of an earlier gay men’s pride flag that featured a range of blue tones. That version was problematic because it used colors that were stereotypical of the gender binary.

This updated flag is inclusive of a much wide ranger of gay men, including but not limited to transgender, intersex, and gender nonconforming men. This modern gay men’s pride flag is a revamp of an earlier gay men’s pride flag that featured a range of blue tones. That version was problematic because it used colors that were stereotypical of the gender binary.

This updated flag is inclusive of a much wide range of gay men, including but not limited to transgender, intersex, and gender nonconforming men.

The Reason a Flag is Needed In The First Place

The rainbow flag has always been the most popular flag for gay men to signify gay-ness and still is, even though this flag is gaining some popularity. Because of the centring of (cis, white, rich) gay men in general, due to our world’s generally patriarchal modern structure, society’s image of the LGBT+ community, the rainbow flag from 1978 and its new 6 stripe form has often been mistakenly attributed to gay men in particular, despite the rainbow flag being a deliberately inclusive flag that includes all LGBT+ people. So, for a while, gay men and lesbians didn’t have popular, widely used flags for our specific identities as gay men and lesbians, though more flags started to be popularised for specific identities, such as bisexual, transgender and asexual while previous lesbian and gay male flags hadn’t achieved widespread use. Lesbians and gay men started using the internet to figure out specific identity flags. why? because enough people wanted something more specific.

The Objections

I’m going to go through some reasons that some people have for not only not using this flag, but discouraging its use by other people.

  • ‘‘It’s ugly’‘

I disagree, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. this isnt an actual reason to discourage use of this flag.

people have started making fun of the flag by saying that it looks ‘’like toothpaste’’. I think this is just people who mistakenly believe that this flag has big problems (that im going to debunk in this post) and are making fun of it because of that, rather than the appearance of the flag being their main problem with it.

  • ‘‘it was made by a *insert bad adjective here* person’‘

A lot of people seem to believe that the @gayflagblog flag was ‘’made by a truscum/misogynist/[insert bad adective here’]’. Personally i don’t believe that because a symbol was made by someone you don;t agree with or who has done harm, doesnt mean it is necessarily unusable. I think it should be on a case-by-case basis and based on whether you are actually perpetuating those ideas or providing camouflage for dangerous movements by using the symbol, but lets talk about whether this objection is based in facts.

@gayflagblog is an anonymous account that does not talk about issues that are not to do with the flag, and specifically has made the flag inclusive of all gay men, which makes these accusations factually baseless.

Gay Flag Blog: Stripe meanings were inspired by my research of LGBT history, my and others experiences as gay men, and the meanings on Gilbert Baker’s original flag (which I love dearly and hold close to my heart). I’ve replaced the all blue of the old flag with a Green-Blue-Purple color scheme. Green for the historical Carnation symbol, blue to represent love, and purple to represent diverse gender expression.

I am aware that leaving the white stripe may make people think it’s too similar to the lesbian flag and old proposed flag, but I kept it in purely because of the trans flag. At this point in time where the battle for trans rights is ongoing even in LGBT spaces it’s more important than ever to remember the crucial roles our trans and GNC family have played in building our history. I am a gay trans man myself so this stripe is very important to me).

this flag is inclusive of ALL GAY MEN! if you identify as a gay man (or are in the process of questioning) and you want to use this flag because you connect with it, go ahead! this flag was made for the entire community and is modified and expanded on based on community run twitter polls (thank you @inkpower for doing that!) , your suggestions, and your concerns!

According to LGBTA Wiki: the flag is also known as the Vincian flag.

Vincian is one of multiple terms used to describe gay men or men-aligned individuals, meaning a manman-aligned or masculine-aligned individual who is attracted to men, man-aligned or masculine-aligned individuals. Multiple definitions also include non-binary individuals who are not miaspec, such as individuals who experience neutral or even feminine-aligned genders. It is one of the most widely recognized alternatives to the term “gay men” and is often used as the masculine equivalent of lesbian (referring to exclusive attraction). It is sometimes also used as a variant of achillean (referring to any MLM attraction, exclusive or not), due to miscommunication on the part of the coiner.

It is sometimes more broadly defined as non-women attracted to non-women. However, this definition is not the most commonly recognized, and not all non-binary individuals feel comfortable being included under vincian attraction. A non-woman attracted to non-women is also called floric.

Another definition that is used commonly is men and non-binary individuals attracted to men and non-binary individuals, including all NBLMMLNB, and NBLNB attractions. It should be noted that not all non-binary individuals feel comfortable being included under vincian attraction, and alternate labels such as toric or uranic are sometimes used.

The term “gay” is used as an adjective to describe homosexuality, and is also often used by the entire LGBT community in general. For this reason, various proposed terms for homosexual men were coined, including vincian. Some individuals also argue that “gay” should just mean homosexual men all together, due to the fact that gay women are referred to as lesbian. Other individuals simply refer to homosexual men as “gay men”.

Other Terms

Although vincian is generally the most commonly seen term, many other proposed terms for gay men exist. Alternate terms include:

  • Uranian: A historical term that is sometimes used to mean gay men.
  • Turian or Veldian: Named after Alan Turing. Describes both gay men and gay (NBLM) non-binary individuals.
  • Floric: Named after Florence, the birthplace of Leonardo Da Vinci, who is the namesake of vincian. is a term used for non-woman attracted to non-women, it includes and is sometimes used as a synonym for “gay men”.
  • Patroclian or Patroclic: Comes from the Greek story of Patroclus, who was thought to be a romantic partner of Achilles (the origin of Achillean).[1] Many individuals feel this term is too long and has too many syllables.
  • Hyacinthine, Hyacinthian, Hyacinthi or Cinthean: Based on Hyacinth/Hyacinthus from Greek mythology.[2][3]
  • Thamyrian or Thamyri: Based on Thamyris is Greek mythology, cited as “the first man to have loved another male”.[4][3]
  • Carnatian: From the green carnation flower, used in as a lapel in Victorian times to symbolize male homosexuality.[3]
  • Viridian: Coming from viridi the Latin word for green, a color often associated with male homosexuality. Vir also means man.[3]
  • Casian: Based on the Latin casia meaning “lavender”.[5]
  • Gayan: Has the same meaning as “gay” in “gay man” just as “lesbian” has in “lesbian woman”.[6]
  • Magnian: Meant to honor Magnus Hirschfeld.[7]

History

Vincian was coined by Tumblr user bivirgil on June 22, 2018.[8] The term was described as an alternative for achillean (implying non-exclusive attraction), but the creator also described the term as being a word for gay men[9] (implying exclusive attraction). It is unclear what the exact meaning of the term was intended to be. Some individuals treat the term as variant of achillean. Some individuals use it as another word for gay men (exclusive attraction).

There are many flags that represent gay men or vincians.

In the mid-2010s, gay activist Valentin Belyaev posted his version of the gay man flag in an initiative group in VKontakte to combat gayphobia (homophobia against men)[10] and on Tumblr.[11] It later spread further on the internet and especially spread in the gay activist space.[12][13] This flag consists of shades of azure and blue, symbolizes the diversity of the gay community and is an analog of the traditional lesbian flag, consisting of shades of rose and red.

The original vincian flag was made by Mod Hermy of the @ask-pride-color-schemes Tumblr blog in 2017.[14][15] It was based on the lipstick lesbian flag, which in turn was plagiarized from a satirical cougar pride flag. This design has been criticized for its stereotypical use of blue to represent gay men in terms of masculinity.[16]

Later in 2019, the Tumblr Blog gayflagblog proposed a flag based off of the prior version that addressed the issues with the old one by adding symbolic and historical meanings to each color and stripe as well as allowing those in the community to offer input and propose their own changes.The top three stripes represent community, healing, and joy. The bottom three stripes represent pure love, fortitude, and diversity. The white middle stripe is taken from the trans flag and represents all trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming vincians/gay men. The green and teal in the flag represent nature, as love between men is often seen as “unnatural” in the eyes of society and in religion. Furthermore, gay men have historically used green flowers and plants (carnations, hyacinths, etc.) The blue-to-purple gradient on the bottom of half the flag symbolizes how some vincians might be stereotypical, some might not be, and some are in-between or fluid.

There are various versions of this flag, including five-stripe and six-stripe “simplified” flags as well as various color edits to make the flag more purple with warmer greens, have different shades of green to represent the carnation flower, and one that added the color pink to the flag[17]. Versions of the flag with the double-Mars symbol[18] and the hyacinth flower[19] have also been made.

The cinthean flag, was created by monstericfag on Twitter. The meaning is as follows: navy represents depth, purple represents beauty, fuchsia represents passion, pink represents pure love, peach represents joy, and white represents trans, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming individuals.

Another alternate vincian flag was designed by tumblr user Chara Violet on June 5, 2021. This flag is based on all the other flags for gay male subcultures:

  • On the top, there’s a pink stripe which is seen on the twink flag + the crown in the drag flag. Pink is also a color that’s historically been used to represent gay men in various ways. On this flag, it stands for gender non-conformity
  • Then there’s a peach stripe is to reminisce of the bear flag’s ambers and browns, while sticking to the aesthetic of the flag. On this flag, it represents sexuality and sensuality
  • The pale yellow stripe is found on both the twink flag and the bear flag, and on this flag it represents nblm and trans men
  • The pale azure stripe is used in the Achillean flag, as well as in many gender flags to represent masculinity (see: trans flag, demiboy flag, etc). On this flag, it represents strength and community
  • The lavender is also in the drag flag, and when next to the azure stripe it can reminisce of the blues used in the bi flag, leather flag, genderfluid flag, etc. On this flag, it represents peace and community.

And after all that, they all come together to form a pastel rainbow, referencing how the rainbow flag used to be the go-to for gay men, as well as how pastel/iridescence and unicorns are often used as symbols for the community.

Another alternate vincian flag, a sunset vincian flag, was designed and proposed by FANDOM user Daemon505. The color meanings are as follows-

Green (#239e84) represents masc and man aligning nonbinary individuals. Blue (#37a9d5) represents men. Purple (#b07be5) represents the unique way masc, man aligned individuals express femininity. Pink (#eb88d0) represents love, specifically men, masc and man alignined individuals who love other men, masc and man aligning individuals. Pastel orange (#f8d2c9) is for aromantic and asexual individuals.

Etymology

The term vincian was coined in honor of Leonardo da Vinci, who was an Italian polymath of the Renaissance. He was thought to be involved in various homosexual relationships, although no one has proven it. He is most famous for his painting of Mona Lisa.

Sources.