handkerchief code

{{short description|Use of color-coded bandanas in gay and BDSM communities}}

File:Hankycode.jpg

{{LGBT symbols}}

The handkerchief code (also known as the hanky/hankie code, the bandana/bandanna code, and flagging){{cite book | last=Andrews | first=Vincent | year=2010 | title=The Leatherboy Handbook | publisher=The Nazca Plains Corp. | isbn=978-1-61098-046-3 }} is a system of color-coded cloth handkerchief or bandanas for non-verbally communicating one's interests in sexual activities and fetishes. The color of the handkerchief identifies a particular activity, and the pocket it is worn in (left or right) identifies the wearer's preferred role in that activity. Wearing a handkerchief on the left side of the body typically indicates one is a "top" (considered active in the act/fetish indicated by the color of the handkerchief) while wearing it on the right side of the body would indicate one is a "bottom" (considered passive in it). For example, a dark blue handkerchief indicates an interest in anal sex, and wearing it in the left pocket indicates a preference for being the penetrating partner. The code was first used in the 1970s in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe, by gay and bisexual men seeking casual sex or BDSM practitioners. Over time the colors and types of apparel in use have greatly proliferated.

Origin

File:Handkerchief code.jpg

The wearing of colored bandanas around the neck as a practical accessory was common in the mid- and late-nineteenth century among cowboys, steam railroad engineers, and miners in the Western United States. It is thought that the wearing of bandanas by gay men originated in San Francisco after the Gold Rush, when, because of a shortage of women, men dancing with each other in square dances developed a code wherein the man wearing the blue bandana took the male part in the square dance, and the man wearing the red bandana took the female part (these bandanas were usually worn around the arm or hanging from the belt or in the back pocket of one's jeans).{{cite web |url=https://www.thesaintfoundation.org/community/hanky-code-bob-damrons-address-book |title=The Handkerchief Code, According to 'Bob Damron's Address Book' in 1980 |last=Kacala |first=Alexander |publisher=The Saint |date=April 25, 2019 |website=The Saint Foundation |access-date=March 30, 2021}}

In the 1970s, the modern hanky code developed as a semiotic system of sexual advertising popular among the gay leather community of the United States{{Cite journal |last1=Reilly |first1=Andrew |last2=Saethre |first2=Eirik J. |date=2013-10-01 |title=The hankie code revisited: From function to fashion |journal=Critical Studies in Men's Fashion |language=en |volume=1 |pages=69–78 |doi=10.1386/csmf.1.1.69_1}} and cruising scene more broadly. Businesses across the country used the hanky code in advertisements to gay clientele.{{Cite web |title=More than just a theatre! Big Top (UC12330163) |url=https://doi.org/10.25549/one-c4-47112 |access-date=2024-07-08 |website=USC Libraries |date=2021 |doi=10.25549/one-c4-47112 |via=ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives}}{{Cite web |title=Bandana night, every Tuesday : Larry's, 5414 Melrose Los Angeles (UC12351950) |url=https://doi.org/10.25549/one-c4-44052 |website=USC Libraries |date=2021 |doi=10.25549/one-c4-44052 |via=ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives}}

The origin of the modern hanky code is disputed. The modern hanky code is often reported to have started in New York City around 1970, when a journalist for the Village Voice jested that instead of simply wearing a set of keys on one side or the other (then a common code to indicate whether someone was a "top" or a "bottom"), it would be more efficient to subtly announce their particular sexual focus by wearing different colored handkerchiefs.{{cite book |first1= Susan |last1= Stryker |author-link= Susan Stryker |first2= Jim |last2= Van Buskirk |title= Gay by the Bay: A History of Queer Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area |location= San Francisco |publisher= Chronicle Books |year= 1996 |page= 18 |isbn= 0-8118-1187-5}}{{Cite web|last=Hsieh|first=Carina|date=2020-07-02|title=What Is the Hanky Code?|url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/a33078811/what-is-hanky-code-how-to-use/|access-date=2021-01-03|website=Cosmopolitan|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|date=2019-04-23|title=Fifty Shades of Gay – The Hanky Code|url=https://www.ambushmag.com/fifty-shades-of-gay-the-hanky-code/|access-date=2021-01-03|website=Ambush Magazine|language=en-US}} However, other sources attribute the expansion of the original red–blue system into today's code to marketing efforts around 1971 by The Trading Post, a San Francisco department store for erotic merchandise, promoting handkerchiefs by printing cards listing the meanings of various colors.{{cite book |last=Fischer |first=Hal |date=1977 |title=Gay Semiotics ♂ |url=http://www.queerculturalcenter.org/Pages/HalPages/GaySempg2.html |location=San Francisco |publisher=NFS Press |isbn=0-917986-03-2 |quote=In San Francisco, the signs began appearing around 1971. The Trading Post, a department store specializing in erotic merchandise, began promoting handkerchiefs in the store and printing cards with their meanings. The red and blue handkerchiefs and their significance were already in existence, and meanings were assigned to other colors as well. |access-date=2017-06-23 |archive-date=2019-10-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018053832/http://www.queerculturalcenter.org/Pages/HalPages/GaySempg2.html |url-status=dead }} Meanwhile, Alan Selby, founder of Mr. S Leather in San Francisco, claimed that he created the first hanky code with his business partners at Leather 'n' Things in 1972, when their bandana supplier inadvertently doubled their order and the expanded code would help them sell the extra colors they had received.{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Jordy|date=2017|title=The Mayor of Folsom Street, The Auto/Biography of "Daddy Alan" Selby aka Mr. S|publisher=Fair Page Media LLC|isbn=978-0-9989098-0-6|pages=61–62}}

Around 1980, Bob Damron's Address Book published a yearly chart for the meaning of each colored handkerchief.

File:Color Codes.jpg

Examples

There is no single authoritative standard for the code, but there is broad agreement on the definition of certain colors. This table is drawn from Larry Townsend's The Leatherman's Handbook II (the 1983 second edition; the 1972 first edition did not include this list) and is generally considered authoritative. Implicit in this list is the concept of left/right polarity, left as usual indicating the top, dominant, or active partner; right the bottom, submissive, or passive partner. Townsend noted that discussion with a prospective partner is still important because people may wear a given color "only because the idea of the hankie turns them on" or "may not even know what it means".{{cite book |last=Townsend |first=Larry|title=The Leatherman's Handbook II |year=1983 |publisher=Modernismo Publications |location=New York |isbn=0-89237-010-6 |page=26}}

class="wikitable"

! Color

! Meaning

style="text-align:left" | {{color box|black}} BlackS&M
style="text-align:left" | {{color box|darkblue}} Dark BlueAnal sex
style="text-align:left" | {{color box|lightblue}} Light BlueOral sex
style="text-align:left" | {{color box|brown}} BrownScat
style="text-align:left" | {{color box|green}} GreenHustler/prostitution
style="text-align:left" | {{color box|grey}} GreyBondage
style="text-align:left" | {{color box|orange}} OrangeAnything goes
style="text-align:left" | {{color box|purple}} PurplePiercing
style="text-align:left" | {{color box|red}} RedFisting
style="text-align:left" | {{color box|yellow}} YellowPissing

Longer, more elaborate lists may be found online, but many of the color variations in them are less often used in practice.

Present day

The hanky code has recently undergone a revival and while the use of handkerchiefs may not be as prevalent, the hanky colors are a common consideration in the choice of leather and fetish gear color.{{Cite news|last=Networks|first=Hornet|date=2022-02-11|title=We're Loving the Push to Revive the Hanky Code for a New Queer Population|url=https://hornet.com/stories/new-hanky-code/|access-date=2022-02-18|website=Hornet|language=en}}

File:Red-Hanky-Handkerchief-Code.jpg

According to the Schwules Museum, the creation of the leather pride flag in 1989 marked "a turning point in the history of the mostly gay leather and BDSM movements: moving away from secret signs and symbols (hanky cloths, for example) to more obvious and public visibility, both in the gay scene and society in general."{{Cite web |title=Object of the Month May: Leather Pride Flag |url=https://www.schwulesmuseum.de/bibliothek-archiv/object-of-the-month-may-leather-pride-flag/?lang=en |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=Schwules Museum |language=en-US}}

Social media may have lessened the use of hankies in cruising areas by digitizing the process. By using online platforms, men who have sex with men (MSM) can eliminate harassment and violence that they may face in public.{{Cite journal|last1=Filice|first1=Eric|last2=Raffoul|first2=Amanda|last3=Meyer|first3=Samantha B.|last4=Neiterman|first4=Elena|date=2019-07-05|title=The Impact of Social Media on Body Image Perceptions and Bodily Practices among Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men: A Critical Review of the Literature and Extension of Theory|journal=Sex Roles|volume=82|issue=7–8|pages=387–410|language=en|doi=10.1007/s11199-019-01063-7|s2cid=198629523|issn=1573-2762|doi-access=free}} Social networking services for MSM allow them to easily identify sexual interests without the need for physical apparel.

See also

References

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Further reading

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{{Wiktionary}}

  • {{cite book |author-link= Trevor Jacques |last= Jacques |first= Trevor H. |title= On the Safe Edge: A Manual for SM Play |isbn= 978-1-89585-705-4 |location= Toronto |publisher= Whole SM Publishing |year= 1993}}

{{LGBT slang}}

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Category:BDSM terminology

Category:Color codes

Category:Encodings

Category:Leather subculture

Category:LGBTQ symbols

Category:LGBTQ terminology

Category:Gay history

Category:LGBTQ fashion