all the lesbian flags

I'm a little nervous about posting this, but I really wanted to share my alternative lesbian flag design with you all! 🌷

since it sort of looks like the sunrise, I thought it would be cool to call this the horizon lesbian flag.

I haven’t based it off of any other flag, including any other existing lesbian flag designs, but I do really love using the red-to-yellow gradient in pride flags when I can.

I hope you like it ♡

In honor of pride month, I wanted to make my own lesbian flag, as a lot of them I don’t like. Please feel free to use it, but credit me.

First stripe: connection to masculinity

Second stripe: woc lesbians

Third stripe: non-cis lesbians (trans, NB, ect)

Fourth stripe: connection to feminity

Fifth stripe: attraction to women

[ID: A pride flag with 5 stripes. In order, the color of stripes is sky blue, pastel green, white, pink, and violet. End ID]

“The symbolism of the flower derives from several fragments of poems by Sappho in which she describes a lover wearing garlands or a crown with violets.”

As per the request of @lesbianthor, I put together a violet-centric lesbian flag design! She really likes the 1900s symbolism of the violet as a subtle, quiet message to women who love other women that they are in each other’s company, and I did my best to incorporate both the modern bright purple and vintage vibes from lesbian history into one edit. I’m never going to be satisfied with that tricky shade of burgundy but oh well. 

There are 5 stripes in total, and Lia and I worked together to hash out the meaning behind each one. 

Navy Blue - Visibility for lesbians who are frequently erased from the media, the world, and sometimes even their own community. This includes (but is not limited to) trans lesbians, nonbinary lesbians, lesbians of color, butch lesbians, Jewish lesbians, Muslim lesbians, aro/ace lesbians, and any other lesbian under the sun who has ever mourned because of a lack of representation. 

Purple - The middle road that questioning lesbians cross on their journey, as well as the ultimate decision to embrace their love of women. 

Pink - The joy inside a lesbian’s heart when they experience their first crush; also readable as the blush on their cheeks when in the presence of attractive women. 

Burgundy - Lifeblood of every lesbian who fought to bring the LGBT community into the light before, during, and after Stonewall so that the world could learn to accept that lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, trans people, and so many more identities outside of heterosexuality and the gender binary exist, which would allow the community as a whole to begin healing. 

I don’t mind if people use this flag for edits, and it’s okay if nobody wants to use it at all, I know a lot of users are very attached to the lipstick lesbian flag. Plus, this is just one more flag to add to the heap of inspired flag designs that hundreds of other users have already created, and it’s certainly not the prettiest. 

White - Sisterhood for lesbian women, kinship for nonbinary lesbians, and protection for young lesbians. The connection that lesbians share is an unbreakable bond, one that has endured for hundreds of years and will continue to do so far into the future. Each lesbian puts their best foot forward to serve and protect their community.

Lia’s addition:

LESBIAN FLAG DESIGN IDEA

I took the colours of the Labrys Flag and the Sapphic Flag and put them together in the 7-stripe format of the Lipstick Flag

I think this is a good compromise for all of us, it has our traditional lesbian colours and symbolism so I hope it catches on!

The white stripe still symbolizes trans/NB lesbians but also doubles as the labrys

The purple symbolizes both violets and butch lesbians, and the pink is femme lesbians

The black is for lesbians who aren’t femme or butch

On the left is what I think are prettier colours that just look together from a graphic design perspective, and on the right is the the colours straight from the other flags

Feel free to use either, just reblog if you do!

I had an idea for a lesbian flag, mostly because there were too many stripes on the normal one for my brain to handle

I tried my hand at making a new version of the lesbian flag, since the popular one (lipstick lesbian one?) was made by a crappy person.

The peach stripe in the middle is for nonbinary lesbians!

I feel like, obviously i shouldn’t have a voice in “what the lesbian flag should look like” but as an artist who does a lot with pride flags, I am obviously interested in watching this current discourse about flags. 

So i designed a flag, not as a serious suggestion, but more as a thing, for myself as a wlw who creates a lot of pride art, from a creators perspective what I like in a flag, more to show what I mean rather than anything.

f I were to put my designing hat on, I’d say simple is better and go for something like this. 3 colours, as a creator makes it much easier to produce. and easy to recognise if it is small or far away. The number one mistake ppl make with designing flags is to make them too complicated. 

Here we go again!

The meanings of the colors/symbols are as follows - 

purple / freedom 

blue / joy 

green / hope

yellow / energy

red / passion

venus symbol / love

Last summer, I created a lesbian flag with the hopes of uniting the community under a set of stripes. This was, of course, a bit too lofty of a goal for a 15 year old girl with a small blog and only a small understanding of what it really is to be a lesbian. Now, still 15 but having learned much more, I want to revisit that moment and show my newest perspective on what it is to be a lesbian.

You might notice that I removed the double meanings for the colors - this was on purpose. I realized that by trying to include every type of lesbian in the flag, I would always forget to mention some type of lesbian. I don’t have enough stripes to describe how varied and wonderful the lesbian community is. 

I would also like to mention that I have had a significant change in ideology. I’m no longer an ace inclusionist and my views align mostly with radical feminism. However, my love for all lesbians has only increased tenfold, and I wouldn’t dream of wishing any harm or negativity against anyone who simply disagrees with me. 

This flag is less of a proposal and more of a statement on how I have changed (and my worldview with it), as well as a love letter of sorts to the lesbians of the world. Please keep that in mind.

Happy International Women’s Day.  You are all worth the fight.

With love and pride,

I found out the creator of the lesbian flag was an ass so I did I redesign! Bit late tho lmao (Also, no disrespect to people who did this before me. Just some redesigns are too bright for me. Also, sorry if the definitions don’t match with the colors if that makes sense.)

I got bored and made my own lesbian flag!

Purple gradient- for Butches

Pink gradient- for Femmes

Black and Brown- for Lesbians of Color

Updated Lesbian Pride Flag!

here is my version of the lesbian pride flag! This flag represents unity and compassion for all lesbians! This also represents the butch, trans, nb, and other lesbians who feel they were not represented by the “original” lesbian flag.

The colors are based on actual color symbolism.

Pink (#FF99CC) - romance

Lavender (#9966FF) - femininity

Black (#0000) - sexuality

and of course the lesbian symbol

Here’s also the version without the lesbian sign, if that’s what you’d prefer.:

Anyway, I made a second version with a prettier pink. I think I prefer the first one, but whichever one you pick is fine with me.

Pink - #CC99FF

And again without the lesbian symbol:

Now, alot of you are probably saying, “well they look pretty good and I thought that was the lipstick lesbian flags replacement. who are you to say we cant use them?”

To which I say: Yeah, they were until my goy ass learned Jewish lesbians are really uncomfortable with us reclaiming the pink triangle. What authority do I have to say you shouldn’t use them? 

I MADE THEM AND WILL FILE COPYRIGHT STRIKES ON ANY BLOG I SEE THEM ON. NOT BECAUSE I HATE YOU, BUT BECAUSE I CARE ABOUT MY CAUSE AND WANT A FLAG FOR ALL LESBIANS, NOT JUST GOY WHO FIND THIS TO BE INOFFENSIVE.

Alright back to buisness Lesbians, The Old Flag Sucks And So Does Our Approach To Fixing It.

So I’ve seen a lot of posts about how the L in LGBT is getting forgotten in posts about us and how people are using the fact we no longer have one unified flag to fly under, as an excuse.

The lipstick lesbian flag was offensive but at least people knew what it was.

For those not familiar as to why the lipstick lesbian flag is bad here you go:

1) its not accessible to the visually impaired, so people that are colorblind have a hard time telling it apart from other lgbt flags.

2) It’s the lipstick lesbian flag. It was only ever made with femmes in mind and butch lesbians really don’t like that it’s used as a flag for all lesbians,

3) The original creator of the flag was racist and very gatekeepy, was reportedly a terf (trans exclusionary radical feminist; IE someone who really hates trans people)

NOW YOU KNOW!

The new all stripe  flags are inoffensive but unidentifiable. Straight people don’t know what our flag is when its two feet in front of them and that’s a design  problem.

So I’m here to explain why none of the flags suggested so far have really stuck in mainstream culture and hopefully fix it for the last time.

The main reason is our flags suck from a graphic design standpoint. Their purpose is not easy to figure out unless someone labels them. We’ve taken the bio hazard mode of symbolism; pick a sign that’s both memorable and meaningless and through cultural education, assign it a meaning. This is a terrible fucking approach and therefor bad design.

So here’s the checklist:

1) Flag must have meaning

2) Identifiable to everyone. A person who has no idea what a lesbian even is should know just by looking that this flag, is about girls liking girls.

3) Unique and Accessible. Can someone who is completely color blind tell that this is the lesbian flag and not the gay or trans flag.

4)Traditional Color Symbolism. Use the culture your currently in, not the culture you wish to create as no one will understand that yellow is suppose to mean femininity. For now stick with pink.

5) Not Eye Bleeding. No Neon.

6) Inclusive. This ain’t just a white lesbian flag, this is an all lesbian flag. If people feel the need to add another colored stripe after the fact to represent themselves, your doing it wrong.

So If We Must Ditch The Old Flag, Try Replacing It With This. I Think With Enough Signal Boosting This Flag Will Catch On.

Symbolism:

The brown fem sign represents all the women of color that first fought for our rights and acts as a reminder to lesbians of color today that they are welcomed.

The white fem sign represents our more privileged sisters who gave the movement numbers (meant to include any poc whom others might try to exclude due to colorisem)

The interlocking design shows solidarity.

The pale trapezoid is the lighthouse, which guides all lesbians, this is our light in the dark, this is our hope when there is none.

Also meant to look like a couple walking down a never ending street.

The warm black outline represents those we have lost.

The magenta represents Femmes and their soft femininity

The light pink stripe represents all the trans lesbians that call the community home

The white stripe represents all the non-binary lesbians whom we accept with open arms (Note: I use non-binary to refer to any person who is niether male or female, so this by default includes genderqueer, and agender lesbians.)

The yellow stripe represents the lovely intersex lesbians whom we must never forget.(You asked for your own stripe and you received)

The purple stripe represents Butchness and the bold rejection of femininity.

The thing that makes this flag special is its spotlight. If one needs a visual shorthand or just an easy way to re-arrange the flag for edits of various sorts, whether it be for fun blogs or merchandising, this flag has you covered.

This is the lesbian spotlight.

the spotlight always refers back to the lighthouse as that is the source, the spotlight is the projection of the lighthouse, providing light and hope wherever it needs to be.

Here are the stripes on their own! Use them as you please!

AND FOR MY FANDOM FOLK OUT THERE WHO WANT TO MAKE CHARACTER ICONS, I GOT YOU COVERED!

FOR YOUR SHIPS

FOR YOUR FAVES ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SCREEN

AND YOUR FAVES ON THE RIGHT!

ALL IS WELL SO LONG AS WE SEE ALL THE STRIPES!

BUT WHAT ABOUT PRIDE MERCH?

I thought of that too! if you make other pride merch you should have the colors, a straightedge and a compass will help you draw out the lines, beyond that its just a matter of how much time you're willing to put into it.

here’s my pitch, make and sell it if you so choose!

(Yes the stripes are wrong on the sketch hush.)

SO LETS STAND TOGETHER ONE LAST TIME, REBLOG THIS FLAG AND UNITE. THIS IS THE LESBIAN LIGHTHOUSE SO HELP ME OUT SPREAD THIS AROUND! LETS GET EVERYONE ON BOARD!

NON LESBAINS FEEL FREE TO REBLOG!

EVERYONE FEEL FREE TO REPOST AND HAVE FUN TO YOUR HEARTS DESIRE!

THIS IS THE ONE FLAG TO RULE THEM ALL.

PLEASE ASK QUESTIONS! ID BE HAPPY TO ANSWER IF YOU ARE CONFUSED. WE WILL NEVER SETTLE ON A FLAG IF WE ALL KEEP GETTING ANGRY WITHOUT ASKING FOR CLARIFICATION.