Gay Symbology

The Rainbow Flag

Likely the most inclusive symbol the GLBQQTT community has. Everyone from FTM to queer to bisexual to intersexed can identify with the collection of six colours... not to say that everyone will identify with it. Each label under the GBLQQTT acronym has it's own symbol, excluding two-spirited, and even they have identifying signs.

Gilbert Baker, a prominent artist in San Francisco, created the Rainbow Flag in 1978. When he first created it, it contained eight colours: hot pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for magic, blue for serenity, and violet for the spirit. Due to a lack of availability of all colours when producing the flag is was quickly reduced to six colours, and in 1979 the version we all know so well today became the official Pride Flag: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple/violet (depending on who you ask.)

The flag represents unity, pride and gay rights.

The Pink Triangle

First off, it wasn't purple, so all that jazz with Tinkie Winkie? Ridiculous! Well, not that it wasn’t obviously ridiculous anyway.

So before Tinkie Winkie, what was with the pink triangle and where did it come from? This would be a "little known" gay history fact that is becoming a little more prominent now-a-days, but has been buried in ignorance for years.

In Nazi-Germany, the Jews were made to wear two yellow triangles overlapping to look like the Star of David (a prominent Jewish symbol). Gay or effeminate men were made to wear an upside down pink triangle.

Should you be perceived as being gay and you were Jewish, you were to wear an upside down pink triangle overlapping a yellow upright triangle. The lowest of low when it came to prisoners at Nazi-camps. As a gay Jew, you were far more likely to be sent to a concentration camp, while men baring the pink triangle were more often jailed under Paragraph 175.

The Black Triangle

Antisocial, masculine women, women who refused to marry, and prostitutes were made to wear a black triangle. It has been adopted as a lesbian pride symbol, and although it isn’t highly known or even seen, it is probably one of the more known of the lesser used symbols.

Lambda

The 11th letter of the Greek alphabet, this is also a symbol embraced by the gay community. The letter itself stands for liberation and was adopted shortly after the Stonewall riots by the Gay Activists Alliance of New York. The primary reason for the use of the Lambda symbol was that, to the heterosexual population it simply looked like a fraternity/sorority symbol, and wouldn’t be perceived as gay friendly or a reason to target anyone displaying it.

The Bear Flag

Say you go down to your gay pride parade, as usual or for the first time, and you see a group of very large, very hairy men that can be best described as "burly". You might first presume they are there to protest... or you might notice that some of them are wearing vests and walking around holding hands with other burly men. These are "bears". They have two flags and commonly use a bear paw symbol as well. The term "bear" is one affectionately used for gay men who have a physical appearance similar to their name-sake. Ie, large, heavy-set, excessive body hair, bearded.

Bisexuality

No one seems quite sure where it originated or who first created it, but the colours pink, purple and blue have become synonymous with the bisexual community. There is a flag as well as a triangular representation — a pink and blue triangle overlapping to create a purple triangle. Occasionally they are referred to as the "biangles".

Transgendered/Intersexed

Being transgendered or transsexual is not the same as being intersexed, however, they do have an overlapping symbol. The combination of the Venus and Mercury symbols can be used to represent each community. This symbol is used to represent Hermaphrodite, the child (according to Greek mythology.) of Aphrodite and Hermes.

A symbol used exclusively by the transgendered/transsexual community is a combination of the male and female symbols, and a merging of the two so there are three points coming off the circle. You can also commonly find the male and female combined, excluding the third point.

Labrys

This is one of the lesser-known symbols that are quickly fading from existence. The double-headed axe is used to represent the lesbian community. It has been around for thousands of years but was adopted by the lesbian community in the 70’s and used by several prominent feminist organizations. You can still find it, usually in jewelry, but the significance of it has been all but lost.

Victory Over AIDS (a modified rainbow flag)

Because of the impact the AIDS epidemic has had on the gay community, it was decided that a Black stripe would be added to the bottom of rainbow flags to commemorate all those in the community who have succumbed to the disease.

Little known fact: When a cure for AIDS is found, the black stripe is to be removed from all rainbow flags that possess it and ceremonially burned.

Leather Pride Flag

This is one of those symbols that is not exclusive to the gay community, but definitely representative of it. The "Black and Blue with Love" symbol represents the BDSM (bondage, discipline, sadism, masochism) subculture. It was created in 1989 at the International Mr. Leather contest in Chicago, Illinois.

The Triskelion

This is another symbol embraced by the leather community. It is based off of an original three legged design and full of great significance and meaning to the BDSM community. However, like the Lambda symbol, would not be interpreted as such by those outside the community.

Note: The Leather community is a great advocator for healthy relationships and the National Leather Association does great work to eliminate domestic violence in all relationships.

The Purple Rhino

Rhino's are relatively gentle creatures, but when provoked will fight extremely viciously. The colour purple has often been used to represent the gay community and the heart represents the common humanity of all people. This symbol is relatively obscure but has been used in the past as a part of a gay activist campaigns to represent the struggle of the gay rights movement.

Straight Ally

This symbol was created in Calgary, Alberta through a contest The MYN held! This symbol represents allies of the transgendered, lesbian, gay, bisexual, two-spirited and queer people. If you consider yourself an ally, then wear this symbol proudly!

Queer Muslim Flag

The Queer Muslim flag is not very common in Canada and nobody really knows who created it. Some say it was started by the Al-Faitha Foundation and created by a US based organization. Al-Faitha was founded in 1998 by Faisal Alam and is dedicated to lesbians, gays, bisexual, transgender and intersexed. Al-Faitha means The Opening in Arabic.