A look at the history of queer flagging
- Rebecca VanderKooi
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
LGBTQ+ people have always existed, and one way queer folks have found each other through the centuries has been through flagging. Flagging uses symbols, signals, clothing, and much more to help LGBTQ+ people signal who they are and find one another. Today, in many ways, society has improved, but there are still numerous reasons why it's not safe or comfortable for someone to be publicly out. Especially given the current legislative attacks on LGBTQ+ people, it makes sense why flagging is still used today. Flagging may look different now than 50 years ago, but the purpose is the same: it's a way to find community safely. While it would take books to cover all the intricacies of the history of flagging, let's take a brief look at flagging through the centuries and today.
Historical Figures
Many people are shocked by how many historical figures are known (or heavily suspected) to be LGBTQ+, including Abe Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt, Shakespeare, and Gandhi. Today, I would like us to focus on Michelangelo and Anne Lister and their usage of flagging.
Michelangelo, born in 1475, is a world-renowned artist from the High Renaissance. For many reasons, it is suspected Michelangelo was queer, although the vocabulary we have today to talk about sexuality did not exist during Michelangelo's lifetime over 500 years ago. There are a few interesting details that could point to flagging in Michelangelo's work. In perhaps his most famous statue, David, Michelangelo gave David heart-shaped pupils rather than the typical slit for a pupil often used to provide a statue depth.
Even more about Michelangelo's sexual preferences can be found in his poetry. Michelangelo's great nephew, Michelangelo the Younger, was preparing his poems for posthumous publication in 1623 when he made a note that he changed all the masculine pronouns in the love poems to feminine before publication. However, because he changed them, nobody knew of the switch until queer art historian John Addington Symonds was granted access to the Buonarroti family archives in Florence in 1863 and discovered the infamous note. While the poems weren't published in their original form, it was likely still a way for Michelangelo to signal to those in his circles about his sexuality.
Anne Lister, a landowner, businesswoman, and diarist from the UK born in 1791, is dubbed "the first modern lesbian." She wore more masculine clothing, and because of her business successes, she ran in circles with men, often being confused as a man. Because of this, she was sometimes called "Gentleman Jack." Anne's fashion choices were likely a big flag to other queer women, and Anne had many partners throughout her life. Her last partner, Ann Walker, even lived with her. While they never officially married, they took communion together at the Holy Trinity Church in York, which was the closest they could get to marriage in 1834.
While in some ways it may seem she was more outward in her sexuality, that isn't quite the case. In fact, we now know so much about Anne's life because of her extensive coded diaries detailing her love life. She wrote in code because of the danger of writing or speaking publicly about her sexuality. The diaries and history of Anne Lister were almost lost entirely when the diaries were discovered hidden in her home in the 1890s long after she passed away by her relative, John Lister, and one of John's friends. They cracked some of the code and learned of Anne's lesbian loves. John's friend encouraged him to burn the diaries because it would have been a huge scandal if the truth had come out, but John chose to keep them hidden in the panels of the home. When the home, Shibden Hall, became a museum, the diaries were found and were eventually decoded and published.
Anne's story includes some traditional flagging in the type of clothing she chose to wear, which likely helped her find other LGBTQ+ women. While her diaries aren't typical flagging, it's fascinating the lengths she took to write down her story but also to hide it for safety reasons. It makes me think she wanted to flag to later queer people who found her work that she was one of them even though she couldn't shout it from the rooftops.
The Basics
We've looked at a snapshot of flagging that happened hundreds of years ago and through a few specific individuals' experiences with having to hide their sexuality but also seeking out other queer people. Now, let's briefly examine some of the more recent history of flagging in the United States.
Generally flagging throughout the modern LGBTQ+ history of the United States (from before liberation till today) can be broken into symbols, colors, and style choices, so let's look at a few examples of each.
Symbols
Nautical stars, specifically small nautical star tattoos on the wrist that a wristwatch could easily cover, were used by some lesbians in the 1940s to find one another.
The Lambda became a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community during the 1970s when New York City's Gay Activist Alliance chose to use it, and it's remained a key symbol ever since. If you're curious why the Lambda was chosen, it was, as the Encyclopedia of Homosexuality explained, "member Tom Doerr suggested from its scientific use to designate kinetic potential, as its emblem."
Mars and Venus's astrological signs became popular in the 1970s in LGBTQ+ circles. Especially popular were the double Venus and double Mars symbols.
The pink triangle is an excellent example of the queer community reclaiming something used to harm them. In this case, the inverted pink triangle was used in Nazi Germany to label gay prisoners who were then "the lowest of the low in camp hierarchy." The pink triangle has now been a symbol used by LGBTQ+ individuals in their designs as a way to signal their identity.
(The inspiration behind a merch item of ours!)
The Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian organization in the United States, launched in 1955. Their "Qui Vive" logo was designed to be a wearable pin so that others could identify one another.
Colors
The Hanky Code is perhaps one of the most extensive uses of color in LGBTQ+ flagging. It began around the gold rush era in San Francisco in the mid-19th century and still exists today. The hanky code is a fairly simple system where individuals wear a colored hanky in one of their back pockets to inform others of their sexual interests.
Lavender has long been associated with the LGBTQ+ community, and similar to the pink triangles, it started in a very harmful way and was later reclaimed by the community. In the 1930s, gay men were taunted about having a 'streak of lavender.' As reported by CNN, "President Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10450, which became part of a national witch-hunt to purge homosexual men and women from the federal government. Dubbed "The Lavender Scare'' by historian David K. Johnson." Lavender has since been reclaimed by the community and used in various ways, including by the 1970s group Lavender Menace.
We can't talk about color without discussing the original Pride flag and other subsequent pride flags such as the bisexual flag, lesbian flag, pansexual flag, and more. Gilbert Baker created the first rainbow flag; his original design included hot pink representing sex, red representing life, orange representing healing, yellow representing sunlight, green representing nature, turquoise representing magic/art, indigo representing serenity, and violet representing spirit. These flags have been flown proudly, and the colors for all the different flags are also used subtly to signal to other community members your sexuality.
Fashion Choices
In the 1940s-1960s, a woman wearing a ring on the right pinky finger was a flag that you were a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
During the 1970s, Hal Fischer took photos of individuals in quintessential gay male dress, such as an earring, keys hung from a belt loop, and, of course, a handkerchief in the back pocket.
In the early 1900s, androgynous fashion became popular, with many women wearing more masculine clothing and hairstyles.
Today
Today, in many circles, being LGBTQ+ is more accepted, but there are still many reasons why it may not be safe for someone to come out, especially given the current legislative landscape. While it should be unacceptable, some people are still forcibly outed, as was the case with Rebel Wilson.
It’s also worth considering if people even have to ‘come out.’ It’s certainly something worth celebrating, but people don’t have to come out as heterosexual; it’s the assumed default to people’s sexuality. However, as it’s becoming more accepted/visible to be LGBTQ+, some people are choosing not to make a big statement to come out, rather just living their authentic lives.
Whether people come out or not, flagging is still a key part of LGBTQ+ culture today. I’ll use myself as an example for this one as I have flagged a lot of different ways throughout my life, both when I was in the closet and today.
For example, on my Instagram feed, I posted a photo and captioned it, “I listen to Girl in Red,” one of the iconic queer women artists of our time. While many straight individuals who saw the post didn’t understand the connotations, it’s almost sure that the queer viewers did. Similarly, on lesbian visibility day, I posted a photo of me holding a cat with pink, orange, and white hearts for the caption, a nod to the lesbian flag.
My fashion has also been influenced by queer flagging. For example, I regularly wear a thumb ring (a typical flag for nonbinary people and queer women), I wear Doc Martens, which are notoriously gay, and I have a double venus tattoo on my hip in case of any question regarding my sexuality.
Flagging has always been a beautiful part of the LGBTQ+ community as a way to connect and support one another, even in the face of divisive politics, religion, and other hate and upheaval. These symbols show the strength of the community and the ability to resist and thrive in the face of challenges.
