"Simmerville;c-17407614" wrote:
Just curious, why is there need for sooooo many different pride flags? Does every person need their own flag? Seems quite confusing when not even the groups recognizes the other groups' flags...
*hiding*
So it's possible this thread will get locked just because it's over six months old, but hopefully I can provide an answer!
There are a lot of flags just because there are a lot of identities, and it's validating for people who don't fall under the 'main' ones. I'm agender - that's the answer I'd give if someone asked me what my gender was - but I also describe myself as nonbinary, genderqueer, and trans. I have friends who would use some of those, but not others. Those labels all reflect different ways of how I, personally, see my gender.
Agender - I don't have a gender.
Nonbinary - my gender falls outside the gender binary.
Genderqueer - my gender is queer, in all senses of the word.
Transgender - my gender is not the one I was assigned at birth.
Different meanings, different connotations. Different colour meanings, too! All the flags have symbolism attached to the colours used. The most often used, the trans flag, has blue for men, pink for women, and white to represent transition
and to represent nonbinary people. However, the white in the nonbinary flag represents multiple gender identities, since white is the colour light makes when combined (of the other colours, black is for agender people, purple is for those with an identity somewhere in between male and female or a combination of the two, and yellow represents identities outside of the binary entirely). And in the agender flag, both black and white is used to represent a lack of gender, with grey representing demi- and semi-genders and green representing the lack of binary, since it's the opposite of purples often used to represent the combination of pink and blue.
Each one has its own meanings, basically, and each one means something to different people. Take the standard rainbow pride flag! The original flag designed by Gilbert Baker had eight colours, each with its own meaning. It was eventually changed to the six colours we see most often, mostly due to lack of availability of hot pink and cyan fabrics. And the inclusive pride flag introduced in Philadelphia in 2017 (the six usual colours, plus black and brown) was meant specifically to include POC and to address racism in the queer community. You could have three gay people who use the rainbow flag, but who would use different ones to represent their experiences and values; someone using the six-colour rainbow flag as a well-known symbol of unity, someone using the original Baker 8-colour flag to reclaim those meanings, someone using the inclusive flag to show belonging or solidarity to queer people of all races and to specifically speak against racism.
I hope this is able to give some explanation!
