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Transgender flag

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Transgender flag
UseSymbol of the transgender community
Proportion3:5
Adopted1999
DesignFive horizontal stripes equally sized colored with two light blue, two pink, and a white stripe in the center
Designed byMonica Helms
Part of the LGBTQ series
LGBTQ symbols
      
Symbols
Pride flags
Part of a series on
Transgender topics
     
Gender identities
Health care practices
Rights and legal status
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Events and awareness
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Theory and concepts
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See also

The transgender flag, also called the transgender pride flag, is used by people, organizations and communities to represent pride, diversity, rights and/or remembrance within the transgender community. Its usage is similar to the original rainbow flag but specific to the transgender community.

It was designed in 1999 by Monica Helms and has since been adopted by the transgender community around the world.[1][2]

The design features five horizontal stripes of three colors in the order light blue, light pink, white, light pink, and light blue. There are related flags as well, including ones which combine the "progress" version of the rainbow flag with the transgender and intersex flags,[3] as well as various flags for niches within the transgender and non-binary communities.[4]

Beyond the common Transgender flag design, some artists have created alternative designs used by their local communities.[5]

History and design

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The flag was created[5] by American trans woman Monica Helms in 1999,[6][7] and was first shown at a pride parade in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2000.[8] Helms got the idea after talking with a friend, Michael Page, who designed the bisexual flag the year prior.[9]

Helms describes the meaning of the transgender pride flag as follows:

The stripes at the top and bottom are light blue, the traditional color for baby boys. The stripes next to them are pink, the traditional color for baby girls. The stripe in the middle is white, for those who are intersex, transitioning or consider themselves having a neutral or undefined gender.[10][11][12][13]

On 19 August 2014, Monica Helms donated the original transgender pride flag to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.[14]

In 2019, 20 years after the creation of the flag, Helms published a memoir, More than Just a Flag, in which she noted how surprised she was at the adoption of her flag:

The speed with which the flag’s usage spread never fails to surprise me, and every time I see it, or a photo of it, flying above a historic town hall or building I am filled with pride.[15]

Notable appearances featuring the Transgender flag

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In 2010 the Brighton and Hove, UK, council flew this flag on the Transgender Day of Remembrance.[16] Transport for London also flew the flag from London Underground's 55 Broadway Headquarters for the 2016 Transgender Awareness Week.[citation needed]

The flag was flown in San Francisco's Castro District (where a rainbow flag usually flies) on 19 and 20 November 2012 in commemoration of the Transgender Day of Remembrance.[8][17][18] The flag-raising ceremony was presided over by local drag queen La Monistat.[18][19]

Philadelphia became the first county government in the US to officially raise the transgender pride flag in 2015. It was raised at City Hall in honor of Philadelphia's 14th Annual Trans Health Conference, and remained next to the US and City of Philadelphia flags for the entirety of the conference. Then-Mayor Michael Nutter gave a speech in honor of the trans community's acceptance in Philadelphia.[20]

Transgender flag hanging out front of Congressmember Ruben Gallego's office at the United States Capitol in 2019

In January 2019, Virginia Representative Jennifer Wexton hung the transgender pride flag outside her office in Washington, D.C., in a move to show support for the transgender community.[21][22] In March 2019, dozens of Democratic and independent members of Congress flew the flag outside their offices for Trans Visibility Week leading up to the International Transgender Day of Visibility.[23][24][25]

The flag flew above US state capitol buildings for the first time on Transgender Day of Remembrance 2019. The Iowa State Capitol[26] and California State Capitol[27] displayed the flag.

In 2023, the Progress Pride flag, which incorporates the colors of the Transgender flag was flown at the White House.[28]

In the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, non-binary Irish musician Bambie Thug wore an outfit featuring the colors of the Transgender flag for their semi-final performance to raise awareness and representation for the non-binary and transgender community.[29]

Emoji

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Helms's design was adopted as an emoji of the flag, which was added to the standard Emoji listing in 2020.[30][31][32] The transgender flag emoji (🏳️‍⚧️) consists of a sequence of five Unicode code points: U+1F3F3 🏳 WAVING WHITE FLAG, U+FE0F ️ VARIATION SELECTOR-16, U+200D ZERO WIDTH JOINER, U+26A7 ⚧ MALE WITH STROKE AND MALE AND FEMALE SIGN, U+FE0F ️ VARIATION SELECTOR-16.[33]

Variations

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2018 Progress Pride Flag by Daniel Quasar
2018 Progress Pride Flag by Daniel Quasar

In addition to Helms's original transgender pride flag design, a number of communities have created their variation on the flag, adding symbols or elements to reflect aspects of transgender identity, such as the overlaying of other symbols such as the Transgender symbol (⚧) designed by Holly Boswell, Wendy Parker, and Nancy R. Nangeroni.[5][34]

Transgender symbol (⚧) overlaid on the Transgender flag

A notable variation is the Progress Pride Flag, designed in 2018 by Daniel Quasar, which incorporates the three colors of the Transgender flag designed by Helms, alongside two black and brown stripes to represent marginalized people of color and those living with AIDS into the Rainbow flag.[35]

Alternative designs

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Besides the now most commonly used Helms design, which has become commonly known as the Transgender Flag, over the years some alternative transgender flags have been designed by artists.[5][9][36]

Andrew design

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The Transgender Pride Flag designed in 1999 by Johnathan Andrew

In 1999, San Francisco trans man Johnathan Andrew, under the moniker of "Captain John" on his female-to-male trans website "Adventures in Boyland", designed and published a flag for those within the transgender community. This trans pride flag consists of seven stripes alternating in light pink and light blue separated by thin white stripes and featuring, in the upper left hoist, a twinned Venus and Mars symbol in lavender. The repeated explanation of the color symbolism for Monica Helms's more well-known flag design is almost identical to that of the description of Andrew's design on other pages. [37][citation needed]

Pellinen design

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Jennifer Pellinen's Transgender Pride design

Jennifer Pellinen designed this flag in 2002.[38][39]

Israeli transgender flag

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Israeli transgender and genderqueer flag

A unique design is used in Israel by the transgender and genderqueer community.[40] This flag has a neon green background (to stand out in public places) and a centered Venus, Mars, and Mars with stroke symbol in black to represent transgender people.

Lindsay design

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Michelle Lindsay's "Trans Flag" design

In Ontario, a flag known as the "Trans Flag", created by Ottawa graphic designer Michelle Lindsay, is used. It consists of two stripes, the top in Sunset Magenta representing female, and the bottom in Ocean Blue representing male, with a tripled Venus, Mars, and Mars with stroke symbol representing transgender people, overlaying them.

This Trans Flag was first used by the Ottawa-area trans community for Ottawa's 2010 edition of the Trans Day of Remembrance. This event included a ceremony in which the Ottawa Police unveiled and raised this flag.[41] The ceremony was repeated during the 2011 Ottawa and Gatineau editions of the Trans Day of Remembrance, this time joined by the Ottawa Paramedics, Ottawa City Hall and Gatineau City Hall also raising the Trans Flag during their own ceremonies. The list of groups doing official unfurling/raising of the Trans Flag in the Ottawa-Gatineau area as part of their Trans Day of Remembrance has grown each year.[42] The Trans Flag has also been used as part of the Peterborough Pride Parade.[43]

Kaleidoscope

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In 2014, a new transgender flag known as the "Trans Kaleidoscope" was created by members of the Toronto Trans Alliance (TTA). It was raised at the first Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremony at Toronto City Hall on 20 November 2014. Controversially, TTA members voted for this flag rather than the Helms and Lindsay flags, which some felt did not represent them.[44] The flag has not received significant usage since the event. The Trans Kaleidoscope is described on the TTA web site as representing "the range of gender identities across the spectrum", with the individual colours representing:

  • Pink: women/femaleness
  • Purple: those who feel their gender identity is a combination of "man" and "woman"; they may consider themselves bigender
  • Green: those who feel their gender identity is neither "man" nor "woman"; they may consider themselves non-binary
  • Blue: men/maleness
  • Yellow: intersex

"The new white symbol with a black border is an extension of the Trans symbol with the male and female symbols, a combined symbol representing those with a gender identity combining male and female and a plain pole (with neither arrow nor bar) representing those with a gender identity that is neither male nor female, embodying awareness and inclusion of all."[45]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "What is the Meaning of the Transgender Flag?". NIH. 1 June 2023. Archived from the original on 14 May 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  2. ^ "Here's the Meaning Behind the Colors of the Transgender Pride Flag". Seventeen. 30 May 2023. Archived from the original on 14 May 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag at the Smithsonian | Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum". www.cooperhewitt.org. 20 June 2023. Archived from the original on 22 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  4. ^ "Pride Flags". The Gender and Sexuality Resource Center. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d "The History of the Transgender Flag". 23 April 2015. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  6. ^ Brian van de Mark (10 May 2007). "Gay and Lesbian Times". Archived from the original on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  7. ^ Fairyington, Stephanie (12 November 2014). "The Smithsonian's Queer Collection". The Advocate. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  8. ^ a b Sankin, Aaron (20 November 2012). "Transgender Flag Flies In San Francisco's Castro District After Outrage From Activists". Huffpost. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  9. ^ a b "The Truth About The Trans Flag". 9 March 2023. Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  10. ^ "These Colors Don't Run". 28 January 2008. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  11. ^ "What is gender affirmation?". 27 October 2023. Archived from the original on 9 February 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  12. ^ "Transgender Flag Flies In San Francisco's Castro District After Outrage From Activists". Huffington Post. 20 November 2012. Archived from the original on 12 May 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  13. ^ "Blue, pink and white: Here's what the colors of the Transgender Pride Flag mean". USA Today. 2 June 2023. Archived from the original on 16 May 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  14. ^ Kutner, Max. "A Proud Day at American History Museum as LGBT Artifacts Enter the Collections". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 28 August 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
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  16. ^ Copping, Jasper (10 October 2010). "Council flagpoles now celebrate diversity and druids". Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 April 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  17. ^ Wilkey, Robin (23 October 2012). "Controversy Erupts Over San Francisco's Famous Rainbow Flag". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
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  19. ^ Felion, Marc (26 May 2009). "FOF #991 – La Monistat Keeps it Fresh!". Feast of Fun. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
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  21. ^ Martinez, Gina (5 January 2019). "Rep. Jennifer Wexton Hangs Transgender Pride Flag Outside Her Capitol Hill Office". Time. Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
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  23. ^ Tim Fitzsimons, Sanders, Pelosi, Ocasio-Cortez hang transgender pride flags in Congress Archived 30 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine, 26 March 2019, NBCNews
  24. ^ Tracy Gilchrist, Pelosi, Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders, & Dozens Hang Trans Flags for Support Archived 30 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine, 27 March 2019, The Advocate
  25. ^ Lizzie Helmer, Dozens of Dem Reps Are Displaying Transgender Pride Flags Outside Their Offices This Week Archived 30 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine 28 March 2019, IJR
  26. ^ Hytrek, Nikoel (20 November 2019). "Iowa First State To Fly Trans Flag Over Capitol For Transgender Day Of Rememberance [sic]". Iowa Starting Line. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
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  37. ^ "Wayback Machine: Adventures in Boyland". Archived from the original on 6 March 2001. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  38. ^ "Transgender Flag - Pellinen Design". Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
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  41. ^ "Ottawa Police observe the Transgender Day of Remembrance". Orleans Star. 21 November 2010. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
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  43. ^ "Trans Flag web site". Archived from the original on 21 July 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  44. ^ "Trans activists clash over flag raising at Toronto City Hall" by HG Watson". Xtra Magazine. 20 November 2014. Archived from the original on 23 March 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  45. ^ "Which Flag Should be Raised at TDOR?". torontotransalliance.com. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
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