#tonsi

🗣❗️ : toki pona is a minimalist conlang, which this post assumes very basic knowledge of. if youd like, u can read the wikipedia page (linked above), or this article from the atlantic, "Toki Pona: A Language With a Hundred Words."

some background on the creation of 'tonsi' - toki pona started development around 2001, and was 1st published in 2014, with 120 "canon" words - including the 2 gender words, meli & mije. however , toki pona is a living language, + words come about as the community needs them - the community came together to create 'tonsi' in a grassroots effort c. 2019 to fill a lexical gap that existed for describing ppl who fell outside the meli-mije duality.

etomologically, the word is from mandarin 同志 'tóngzhì' (meaning "comrade", & commonly used to mean gay / LGBTQ - though "tonsi" itself is generally agreed refer to gender.) some people use it exclusively to mean "nonbinary / genderqueer" , but expanded usage to also include all trans & gnc people (who choose to identify as tonsi) is very common, + is a definition i endorse ( & created the flag in mind with ! ) the word was officialized as an essential word in 2021 w./ the release of the toki pona dictionary

the sitelen pona ( logographic / hieroglyph writing system ) glyph for 'tonsi'

as for the design & symbolism of the flag - the central blue symbol represents the sitelen pona glyph for tonsi (shown above), in the blue of the toki pona logo - the 3 segments (colored pink, green, and purple) were roughly inspired by colors on the trans, gq, & nonbinary flags - as a whole, the flag symbolizes the way the tonsi community unites people of all different gender experiences & primary-language terms.

toki pona philosophy is all about capturing universal concepts in a way that allows for clear and simple communication, and gender variance is absolutely a universal concept. tonsi is a beautiful + necessary word, & with this flag, i wanted 2 focus not on granular inclusions of which groups fall under tonsi , but rather the unity the term presents, and how it allows us to unite by what we have in common , rather than pick over the terminology we choose.

a version of the tonsi flag made in a 16:9 aspect ratio 4 convenience

to my knowledge, no one else has made an effort 2 create a dedicated tonsi flag, but reception to having one has been positive thru the toki pona speakers ive shown the design - much thnx to the people on discord who gave their thoughts, as well as @epikulupu for consulting - sina ale li epiku mute a ❤️ ( ill also be posting a lili version of this post on r/tokipona soon + will add a link when i do 🌈 )

trans women are women

trans men are men