Lesbian flags
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
{{Short description|Flags used to indicate lesbian identity}}
{{LGBT symbols}}
Various lesbian flags have been used to symbolise the lesbian community. Since 1999, many designs have been proposed and used. Although personal preferences exist, as well as various controversies, no design has been widely accepted by the community as the lesbian flag.
History
=Labrys flag=
The labrys lesbian flag was created 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.{{cite web|last1=Bendix|first1=Trish|title=Why don't lesbians have a pride flag of our own?|url=https://www.afterellen.com/people/452039-dont-lesbians-pride-flag|website=AfterEllen|date=8 September 2015|accessdate=8 June 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909150736/https://www.afterellen.com/people/452039-dont-lesbians-pride-flag|archivedate=9 September 2015}}{{cite web|url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/lgbt-pride-flags-meaning|title=A Complete Guide To All The LGBTQ+ Flags & What They Mean|date=19 June 2019|accessdate=6 July 2019|publisher=Refinery29|author=Kasandra Brabaw|archive-date=12 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210312065228/https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/lgbt-pride-flags-meaning|url-status=live}} The design consists of a labrys, a type of double-headed axe, superimposed on the inverted black triangle, set against a violet background. The labrys is associated as a weapon used by the Amazons of greek mythology.{{cite book|title=The Alyson Almanac: A Treasury of Information for the Gay and Lesbian Community|year=1989|publisher=Alyson Publications|location=Boston, Massachusetts|chapter=Gay Symbols Through the Ages|pages=[https://archive.org/details/alysonalmanactr00bost/page/99 99–100]|isbn=0-932870-19-8}}{{cite book|editor-last1=Murphy|editor-first1=Timothy F.|title=Reader's Guide to Lesbian and Gay Studies|date=2000|edition=1st|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=FeWMAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA44 44]|publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers|location=Chicago, Illinois|isbn=1-57958-142-0}} In the 1970s it was adopted as a symbol of empowerment by the lesbian feminist community.{{cite book|editor1-last=Zimmerman|editor1-first=Bonnie|editor1-link=Bonnie Zimmerman|title=Lesbian Histories and Cultures: An Encyclopedia|date=2000|edition=1st|volume=1 (Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures)|publisher=Garland Publishing|isbn=0-8153-1920-7|page=748|chapter=Symbols (by Christy Stevens)|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofle00bzim/page/748|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofle00bzim/page/748}} Women considered asocial by Nazi Germany for not conforming to the Nazi ideal of a woman, which included homosexual females, were condemned to concentration camps{{cite web |title=Lesbians Under the Nazi Regime |url=https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/lesbians-under-the-nazi-regime |website=Holocaust Encyclopedia |publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |date=31 March 2021 |access-date=14 June 2021 |archive-date=25 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220325155611/https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/lesbians-under-the-nazi-regime |url-status=live }} and wore an inverted black triangle badge to identify them.{{Cite news|last1=Elman|first1=R. Amy|title=Triangles and Tribulations: The Politics of Nazi Symbols|url=http://remember.org/educate/elman|website=Remember.org|access-date=10 December 2016|archive-date=20 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220110705/http://remember.org/educate/elman|url-status=live}} (Originally published in the Journal of Homosexuality, 1996, 30 (3): pp.1–11, {{doi|10.1300/J082v30n03_01}}, {{ISSN|0091-8369}}) Some lesbians reclaimed this symbol as gay men reclaimed the pink triangle (many lesbians also reclaimed the pink triangle although lesbians were not included in Paragraph 175 of the German criminal code). The color violet became associated with lesbians via the poetry of Sappho.{{cite web|last1=Prager|first1=Sarah|title=Four Flowering Plants That Have Been Decidedly Queered (Sapphic Violets)|url=https://daily.jstor.org/four-flowering-plants-decidedly-queered/|website=JSTOR Daily|date=29 January 2020|accessdate=19 July 2020|archive-date=3 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203190720/https://daily.jstor.org/four-flowering-plants-decidedly-queered/|url-status=live}}
=Lipstick flag=
{{See also|Lipstick lesbian#Flag controversy}}
The lipstick lesbian flag was designed by Natalie McCray, and released on her blog This Lesbian Life.{{cite web|last1=Mathers|first1=Charlie|title=18 Pride flags you might not have seen before|url=https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/pride-flag-community/|website=Gay Star News|date=1 January 2018|accessdate=4 June 2019|archive-date=1 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601020941/https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/pride-flag-community/|url-status=dead}} (The Mathers article shows the derivative design, but not the original flag.){{cite web |last1=Redwood |first1=Soleil |title=A Horniman Lesbian Flag |url=https://www.horniman.ac.uk/story/a-horniman-lesbian-flag/ |website=Horniman Museum |date=26 February 2020 |access-date=21 November 2021 |archive-date=16 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230816211624/https://www.horniman.ac.uk/story/a-horniman-lesbian-flag/ |url-status=live }} The design has seven stripes in a gradient from purple (at the top) to white (in the center) to red (at the bottom), with a red kiss mark superimposed in the top left corner.{{cite web|last1=McCray|first1=Natalie|title=LLFlag|url=https://thislesbianlife.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/llflag1.jpg|website=This Lesbian Life|date=July 2010|accessdate=9 June 2021|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011120237/https://thislesbianlife.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/llflag1.jpg|archivedate=11 October 2016}}{{cite news|last1=Rawles|first1=Timothy|title=The many flags of the LGBT community|url=https://sdgln.com/social/2019/07/12/many-flags-lgbt-community|work=San Diego Gay & Lesbian News|date=12 July 2019|accessdate=3 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712231000/https://sdgln.com/social/2019/07/12/many-flags-lgbt-community|archive-date=12 July 2019|url-status=dead}} The flag symbolizes lipstick lesbians—slang for lesbians with a feminine expression. However, it has not been widely adopted. Some lesbians have argued that the flag excludes butch lesbians, while others oppose its use due to remarks made by McCray deemed racist, biphobic, and transphobic.{{cite web |url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/love-sex/relationships/a30254147/lesbian-flag/ |title=Lesbian flag: The history, origins, meaning and symbolism |date=18 March 2021 |website=Cosmopolitan |access-date=29 January 2023 |archive-date=24 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124121312/https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/love-sex/relationships/a30254147/lesbian-flag/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/lgbt-pride-flags-meaning#slide-4|title=A Complete Guide To All The LGBTQ+ Flags & What They Mean|date=19 June 2019|accessdate=6 July 2019|publisher=Refinery29|author=Kasandra Brabaw|archive-date=12 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210312065228/https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/lgbt-pride-flags-meaning#slide-4|url-status=live}}
= Pink flag =
The "pink" lesbian flag was derived from the colors of the lipstick lesbian flag, with the kiss mark removed. The pink flag attracted more use as a general lesbian pride flag.{{Cite news|last1=Andersson |first1=Jasmine |title=Pride flag guide: what the different flags look like, and what they all mean |url=https://inews.co.uk/news/pride-flag-guide-what-the-different-flags-look-like-and-what-they-all-mean/ |work=i |date=4 July 2019 |access-date=15 September 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210915140335/https://inews.co.uk/news/pride-flag-guide-what-the-different-flags-look-like-and-what-they-all-mean-309916 |archive-date=15 September 2021 |url-status=dead}} (Although the colors of the "pink" flag were incorporated from the "lipstick lesbian" flag, Natalie McCray did not take credit for the derivation and the creator of the "pink" flag remains unknown.)
=Orange-Pink flag=
The "orange-pink" lesbian flag, modeled after the seven-band pink flag, was introduced on Tumblr by blogger Emily Gwen in 2018.{{cite news|last1=Dastagir|first1=Alia E.|last2=Oliver|first2=David|title=LGBTQ Pride flags go beyond the classic rainbow. Here's what each one means|work=USA Today|url=https://eu.usatoday.com/in-depth/graphics/2021/06/01/lgbtq-pride-flags-meaning-gay-lesbian-transgender-nonbinary-intersex-pride-flags-represent/5133381001/|date=1 June 2021|access-date=1 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601103213if_/https://eu.usatoday.com/in-depth/graphics/2021/06/01/lgbtq-pride-flags-meaning-gay-lesbian-transgender-nonbinary-intersex-pride-flags-represent/5133381001/|archive-date=1 June 2021}}{{cite web |title=LGBTQIA+ Symbols: New Lesbian Flag(s) |url=https://www.odu.edu/life/diversity/resources/lgbtqa/symbols |website=Old Dominion University |date=April 2020 |access-date=6 June 2021 |archive-date=2 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602011519/https://www.odu.edu/life/diversity/resources/lgbtqa/symbols |url-status=dead}} The colors include dark orange for "gender non-conformity", orange for "independence", light orange for "community", white for "unique relationships to womanhood", pink for "serenity and peace", dusty pink for "love and sex", and dark rose for "femininity".
A five-stripes version was soon derived from the 2018 colors.{{Cite web|last1=Murphy-Kasp|first1=Paul|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-london-48885240/pride-in-london-what-do-all-the-flags-mean|title=Pride in London: What do all the flags mean?|website=BBC News|date=6 July 2019|accessdate=6 July 2019|archive-date=17 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617211013/https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-london-48885240/pride-in-london-what-do-all-the-flags-mean|url-status=live}} (video)
Gallery
File:Labrys Lesbian Flag.svg|Labrys lesbian flag created in 1999
File:Lipstick lesbian Pride Flag.svg|Illustration of Lipstick lesbian flag created in 2010
File:Lesbian Pride pink flag.svg|Pink lesbian flag with colors copied from the lipstick lesbian flag
File:Lesbian pride flag 2018.svg|Orange-pink lesbian flag derived from the pink flag in 2018
File:Lesbian Pride Flag 2019.svg|Five-stripes variant of orange-pink flag
File:Lesbian Pride double-Venus canton rainbow flag.svg|Lesbian pride variant of the gay pride flag with the double-Venus symbol{{cite web |title=More Variations of the Gay Pride Rainbow Flag (2): Rainbow flags with double Venus symbol |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/qq-rb_v2.html#2venus |website=Flags of the World |date=September 21, 2023 |access-date=25 June 2024 |archive-date=June 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240625090826/https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/qq-rb_v2.html#2venus |url-status=live}}
=Flags at events=
File:Flag Waving (5896295483).jpg|Double-Venus rainbow flag at London Pride parade, England, 2011
File:Istanbul Pride Solidarity Demo Berlin 2018 59.jpg|Double-Venus rainbow flag at Istanbul Pride solidarity demonstration, Berlin, Germany, 2018
File:Dyke March Berlin 2019 329.jpg|Labrys flag at Berlin Dyke March, Germany, 2019
File:Marche des fiertés rouen 20190504 - drapeau lesbien.jpg|Labrys flag at Pride March, Rouen, France, 2019
File:Pride Serbia 2019 - Academic (Student) Park.jpg|Labrys flag at Pride Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia, 2019
File:Dyke March Berlin 2020 035.jpg|Double-Venus rainbow flag at Berlin Dyke March, Germany, 2020
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Lesbian feminism}}
{{LGBTQ|culture}}
Category:Flags introduced in 1999
Category:Flags introduced in 2010
Category:Flags introduced in 2016
Category:Flags introduced in 2018