Over the course of its history, theLGBTQ community has adopted certainsymbols forself-identification to demonstrate unity,pride, shared values, and allegiance to one another. These symbols communicate ideas, concepts, and identity both within their communities and to mainstream culture. The two symbols most recognized internationally are thepink triangle and therainbow flag.[1][2][3]
Two interlocking female symbols(⚢) represent alesbian or the lesbian community, and two interlocking male symbols(⚣) agay male or the gay male community.[4][5] These symbols first appeared in the 1970s.[5]
The combined male-female symbol (⚦) is used to representandrogyne or transgender people; when additionally combined with the female (♀) and male (♂) symbols (⚧) it indicates gender inclusivity, though it is also used as a transgender symbol.[6][7]
Lambda
Lower-case lambda
In 1970, graphic designerTom Doerr selected the lower-case Greek letterlambda (λ) to be the symbol of the New York chapter of theGay Activists Alliance.[8][9] The alliance's literature states that Doerr chose the symbol specifically for its denotative meaning in the context of chemistry andphysics: "a complete exchange of energy–that moment or span of time witness to absolute activity".[8]
In 19th-century England,green indicated homosexual affiliations, as popularized by queer authorOscar Wilde, who often wore a greencarnation on his lapel.[16][17] According to some interpretations, American poetWalt Whitman used thesweet flag plant to represent homoerotic male love because of itsphallic connotations.[18]
Roses have been associated with male love in both ancient Greece and modern Japan.
The termbara (薔薇), "rose" in Japanese, has historically been used inJapan as apejorative formen who love men, roughly equivalent to the English language term "pansy".[19][20]: 40 Beginning in the 1960s, the term wasreappropriated by Japanese gay media: notably with the 1961 anthologyBa-ra-kei: Ordeal by Roses [ja], a collection of semi-nude photographs of homosexual writerYukio Mishima by photographerEikoh Hosoe,[20]: 34 and later withBarazoku (薔薇族, lit. "rose tribe") in 1971, the first commercially producedgay magazine inAsia.[21] The use of the rose as a prominent symbol of love between males is supposedly derived from theGreek myth ofKing Laius havingaffairs with boys under rose trees.[22] Since the 2000s,bara has been used by non-Japanese audience as an umbrella term to describe a wide variety of Japanese and non-Japanese gay media featuring love and sex betweenmasculine men.[23] The rose is also the sacred flower ofEros,[24] the Greek god of love and sex, and patron of love between men.[25] Eros was responsible for the first rose to sprout on Earth, followed by every flower and herb.[26] Roses are a symbol ofpederasty in ancient Greece:handsome boys were metaphorically called roses by theirmale admirers in homoerotic poems such as those bySolon,Straton,Meleager,Rhianus, andPhilostratos.[27]
Violets and theircolor became a special code used by lesbians and bisexual women.[28][29][30] The symbolism of the flower derives from several fragments of poems bySappho in which she describes a lover wearing garlands or a crown with violets.[31][32] In 1926, the playLa Prisonnière byÉdouard Bourdet used a bouquet of violets to signify lesbian love.[33] When the play became subject to censorship, many Parisian lesbians wore violets to demonstrate solidarity with its lesbian subject matter.[34]
Whitelilies have been used since theRomantic era ofJapanese literature to symbolize beauty and purity in women, and are ade facto symbol of theyuri genre (yuri (百合) translates literally to "lily"),[35] which describes the portrayal of intimate love, sex, or emotional connections between women.[36] The termYurizoku (百合族,lit. "lily tribe") was coined in 1976 byIto Bungaku, editor of the gay men's magazineBarazoku (see above), to refer to his female readers.[37][38] While not all those women were lesbians, and it is unclear whether this was the first instance of the termyuri in this context, an association ofyuri with lesbianism subsequently developed.[39] InKorea andChina, "lily" is used as asemantic loan from the Japanese usage to describe female-female romance media, where each use the direct translation of the term –baekhap (백합) in Korea[40] andbǎihé (百合) in China.[41]
In the late 1990s, activist Michael Page established the use of thetrillium flower as a symbol ofbisexuality. This was apun, as scientists had used the term "bisexual" to refer to the flower because such flowers haveboth male and female reproductive organs.[42] Trillum's use as a bisexual symbol has been reaffirmed by artists and graphic designers such as Francisco Javier Lagunes Gaitán and Miguel Angel Corona, who designed aMexican variant of thebisexual pride flag emblazoned with a white trillium.[43][44][45]
Slices of watermelon.
Sexual fluidity and abrosexuality—terms that refer to a changing sexual orientation that cannot always be consistently described—are represented by thewatermelon. Because it is composed primarily of water, the watermelon symbolizes a sexuality that is fluid.[46][47]
Animals that lovers gave as gifts to their beloved also became symbols of pederastic love, such ashares,roosters,deer,felines andoxen, as a metaphor for sexual pursuits.[49][50]
Blåhaj
Small and large variants ofBlåhaj, displayed from the bottom (above) and side (below)
In response to this popularity, IKEA Canada hosted a giveaway in November 2022, offering transgender people a special edition Blåhaj in the colors of a transgender pride flag, with the winner's name embroidered on its fin.[53]
Lavender rhinoceros
Alavender rhinoceros, a symbol used as a sign of gay visibility.
Daniel Thaxton and Bernie Toale created alavenderrhinoceros symbol for a public ad campaign to increase visibility for gay people in Boston helmed by Gay Media Action-Advertising; Toale said they chose a rhinoceros because "it is a much maligned and misunderstood animal" and that it waslavender because that is a mix of pink and blue, making it a symbolic merger of the feminine and masculine. (Lavender had already been usedto represent LGBTQ people in other contexts).[54][55][56] However, in May 1974, Metro Transit Advertising said its lawyers could not "determine eligibility of the public service rate" for the lavender rhinoceros ads, which tripled the cost of the ad campaign. Gay Media Action challenged this but were unsuccessful. The lavender rhinoceros symbol was seen on signs, pins, and t-shirts at theBoston Pride Parade later in 1974, and a life-sized papier-mâché lavender rhinoceros was part of the parade. Money was raised for the ads, and they began running on theMassachusetts Bay Transportation Authority'sGreen Line by December 3, 1974, and ran there until February 1975. The lavender rhinoceros continued as a symbol of the gay community, appearing at the 1976 Boston Pride Parade and on a flag that was raised atBoston City Hall in 1987.[57]
Outside of Boston,Theatre Rhinoceros, located inSan Francisco, and founded in 1977, based its name on this symbol.[58] Theatre Rhinoceros, also called Theatre Rhino, or The Rhino, is a gay and lesbian theatre.[59] It claims to be the world's longest-running professional queer theatre company.[60] An online bookstore focused on LGBTQ authors and books called "The Lavender Rhino" launched in 2023.[61]
Unicorns have become a symbol of LGBTQ culture due to earlier associations between the animal and rainbows being extended to therainbow flag created in 1978 byGilbert Baker.[62]
Alice Fisher ofThe Guardian wrote in 2017, "The unicorn has also done its bit for the LGBT community in the last century... Rainbows and unicorns are so intrinsically linked (the association is also a Victorian invention) that it's unsurprising that the magic creature started to appear on T-shirts and banners at Gay Pride around the world, with slogans such as 'Gender is Imaginary' or 'Totally Straight' emblazoned under sparkling rainbow unicorns."[63]
Gay Star News said in 2018 that unicorns are the "gay,LGBTI and queer icons of our time".[64]
Due to themetamorphosis from caterpillar tobutterfly, butterflies are often used as symbols of transformation. Because of this, they can symbolizegender transition and transgender identity.[66]
Other symbols
Symbols of the LGBTQ community have been used to represent members' unity, pride, shared values, and allegiance to one another.
One of the oldest of these symbols is the downward-pointingpink triangle that male homosexuals, male bisexuals, and transgender women inNazi concentration camps were required to wear on their clothing. The badge is one of severalbadges that internees wore to identify what kind of prisoners they were.[67] Many of the estimated 5,000–15,000 gay men imprisoned inconcentration camps did not survive.[68] The pink triangle was later reclaimed by gay men, as well as some lesbians, in various political movements as a symbol of personal pride and remembrance.[69][70] AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT-UP) adopted the downward-pointing pink triangle to symbolize the "active fight back" againstHIV/AIDS "rather than a passive resignation to fate."[71]
The pink triangle was used exclusively with male prisoners, including transfeminine individuals, as cisgender lesbians were not included underParagraph 175, a statute which made homosexual acts between males a crime.[72] Lesbian sexual relations were illegal only in Austria and historians differ on whether they were persecuted or not, due to lack of evidence.[73] Some lesbians were imprisoned with ablack triangle symbolizing supposed "asociality", this symbol was later reclaimed by postwar lesbians.[70]
The downward-pointing pink triangle was used to identify homosexual men and transgender women in the concentration camps.
The downward-pointing black triangle was used to mark individuals considered "asocial". The category included homosexual women, nonconformists, sex workers,nomads,Romani, and others.
The downward-pointing pink triangle overlapping a yellow triangle was used to single out male homosexual prisoners who wereJewish.
Biangles
The biangles, designed by artist Liz Nania to represent bisexuality
Michael Page stated that, when designing thebisexual flag, he took the colors and overlap of the flag from the biangles.[77]
Double crescent moon
The double crescent moon bisexuality symbol, designed by Vivian Wagner
Some bisexual individuals object to the use of apink triangle in the biangles symbol of bisexuality (see above), as it was a symbol thatAdolf Hitler's regime used to tag and persecute homosexuals. In response, a double crescent moon symbol of bisexuality was devised by Vivian Wagner in 1998.[78][79] This symbol is common inGermany and surrounding countries.[79]
Asexual and aromantic symbols
Theace ring, a black ring worn on the middle finger of one's right hand, is a wayasexual people signify their asexuality. The ring is deliberately worn in a similar manner as one would awedding ring to symbolize marriage. Use of the symbol began in 2005.[80][81]
Thearo ring, a white ring, worn on the middle finger on one's left hand is a wayaromantic people signify their identity on the aromantic spectrum. Use of the symbol began in 2015.[82] This was chosen as the opposite of the ace ring which is a black ring worn on the right hand.[83]
Another symbol often used by aromantic people isarrows or an arrow as the word arrow is ahomophone to the shortened word aro used by aromantic people to refer to themselves.[84]
Ace ring, meant to be worn on the right middle finger.
Aro ring, meant to be worn on the left middle finger
An ace of clubs with the words “GRAY ASEXUAL AND GRAYROMANTIC PRIDE” on it and grayromantic flag colors in the background, part of a display forInternational Asexuality Day set up in Pennsylvania in 2025.
An ace of diamonds with the words “DEMIROMANTIC AND DEMISEXUAL PRIDE” on it and demisexual flag colors in the background, part of a display forInternational Asexuality Day set up in Pennsylvania in 2025.
Freedom Rings
Freedom Rings on a keychain
Freedom Rings, designed byDavid Spada in 1991, are six aluminum rings, each in one of the colors of therainbow flag. These rings are worn by themselves or as part of necklaces, bracelets, and keychains.[87] They are a symbol of gay pride, and were originally sold as a fundraiser for the 1991San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade and quickly became a national trend. In June 1992, several ofMTV's on-air hosts wore Freedom Rings in recognition ofPride Month, elevating their visibility.[88][89] They are sometimes referred to as "Fruit Loops".[90]
Gaysper is an LGBTQ symbol based on theghostemoji (U+1F47B, "👻") ofAndroid 5.0. It is a modification of the original icon that uses a background with the colors of therainbow flag. It became popular in Spain from April 2019 following a tweet posted on the official account of the populist far-right partyVox, after which a multitude of users belonging to theLGBTQ movement began to use it as a symbol.[91][92] The icon has established itself as an example of the phenomenon ofreappropriation of elements of the anti-LGBTQ discourse in contemporary society through social networks.[93][94] Other versions derived from the original symbol involving other flags belonging to the LGBTQ community, such as thetransgender flag, or thebisexual flag, have also become popular.[93][95][96]
In the 1970s, the modern handkerchief (or hanky) code emerged in the form ofbandanas, worn in back pockets, in colors that signaled sexual interests, fetishes, and if the wearer was a"top" or "bottom".[97][98] It was popular among the gayleather community of the United States[99] and thecruising scene more broadly.
Tartan
Tartan has become a beloved fabric within the queer community, embraced for both its bold aesthetic and its cultural resonance. Once reclaimed by the punk movement in the 1970s as a symbol of rebellion and nonconformity, tartan has continued to carry that defiant energy, making it a natural fit for queer expression. Its visual punch and strong graphic identity offer endless possibilities for play with gender, tradition, and identity. It's no coincidence that Scotland — whose national animal is the unicorn, a creature long associated with queerness and magic — has given rise to such a powerful symbol of both heritage and subversion.
Many queer and queer-adjacent designers have made tartan central to their work. Alexander McQueen famously twisted tartan into something darkly romantic and theatrical, while Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY and Louise Gray have brought a riot of colour and queer joy to the fabric, infusing it with punk energy and playful chaos. Tartan’s presence in queer fashion goes beyond the runway too — actor Alan Cumming is rarely seen without a splash of tartan, proudly wearing it as both a nod to his Scottish roots and a bold queer statement. From flannel shirts in lesbian and butch culture to vibrant kilts and tailored suits at Pride, tartan remains a living, shape-shifting fabric that queers continue to claim, reinvent, and wear with pride.[100][101][102]
A lesbian manicure (also known as queer manicure, lez nails, or femmicure)[a] is a style or trend ofmanicure intended to allowlesbians and other queer people in theLGBTQ community to safely and easily performdigital penetration during sex. The most distinct and modern form of the manicure entails longnail extensions on every finger apart from theindex finger,middle finger, and sometimesthumb of thedominant hand, thus preventing injury or discomfort to thevulva orvagina during intercourse while otherwise maintaining the fashion of long acrylic nails in one's daily life. The style is often seen as a public expression or symbol of lesbian identity, particularly on thefemme side of thefemme-butch spectrum.[106]
Purple hand
A purple hand symbol created in 2024
On October 31, 1969, sixty members of theGay Liberation Front, the Committee for Homosexual Freedom (CHF), and the Gay Guerilla Theatre group staged a protest outside the offices of theSan Francisco Examiner in response to a series of news articles disparaging people in San Francisco'sgay bars and clubs.[107][108] The peaceful protest against theExaminer turned tumultuous and was later called "Friday of the Purple Hand" and "Bloody Friday of the Purple Hand".[107][109][110][111]Examiner employees "dumped a barrel of printers' ink on the crowd from the roof of the newspaper building", according toglbtq.com.[112] Some reports state that it was a barrel of ink poured from the roof of the building.[113] The protestors "used the ink to scrawl slogans on the building walls" and slap purple hand prints "throughout downtown [San Francisco]" resulting in "one of the most visible demonstrations of gay power" according to theBay Area Reporter.[107][110][109] According to Larry LittleJohn, then president ofSociety for Individual Rights, "At that point, the tactical squad arrived — not to get the employees who dumped the ink, but to arrest the demonstrators. Somebody could have been hurt if that ink had gotten into their eyes, but the police were knocking people to the ground."[107] The accounts ofpolice brutality include women being thrown to the ground and protesters' teeth being knocked out.[107][114] Inspired byBlack Hand extortion methods ofCamorragangsters andthe Mafia,[115] some gay and lesbian activists attempted to institute "purple hand" as a symbol against anti-gay attacks, but the symbol was only briefly used.[116][117] In Turkey, the LGBTQ rights organizationMorElEskişehir LGBTT Oluşumu (Purple Hand Eskişehir LGBT Formation) bears the name of this symbol.[118]
In the 1950s, some lesbians inBuffalo, New York wore a blue five-pointed star tattoo on the wrist, a location that could be covered by a watch.[119] People getting tattoos to reflect this history may choose anautical-style star.[120]
White knot
A white knot
The white knot is a symbol of support forsame-sex marriage in the United States. The white knot combines two symbols of marriage, the color white and "tying the knot," to represent support forsame-sex marriage.[121] The white knot has been worn publicly by many celebrities as a means of demonstrating solidarity with that cause.[122]
The white knot was created by Frank Voci in November 2008, in response to the passage ofProposition 8 in California and bans on same-sex marriage and denial of othercivil rights forLGBTQ persons across the nation.[123]
Numerous communities have embraced distinct flags, with a majority drawing inspiration from the rainbow flag. These flags are often created by amateur designers and later gain traction online or within affiliated organizations, ultimately attaining a semi-official status as a symbolic representation of the community. Typically, these flags incorporate a range of colors that symbolize different aspects of the associated communities.
For information on entering these symbols in a document, seeUnicode input.
The meanings given here are those formally associated with the symbol in Unicode. They may be used with other meanings elsewhere. See alsoGender symbols#Encoding.
^Also used as synonym of U+26ACMEDIUM SMALL WHITE CIRCLE (⚬) Engaged, betrothed (genealogy), wedding ring. Cf. also U+25CBWHITE CIRCLE (○), female in genealogies and pedigrees.
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^Kepner, Jim (1977).Alternate. p. 36.October 31 [1969]: San Francisco gay-rads picket San Francisco Examiner over "queers and fairies" story. Purple ink dumped on pickets who ink handprints on building. Lawrence and 11 others busted for defacing. Purple hand briefly a gay lib symbol.
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Brooks Barnes (26 November 2008)."Another Cause, Another Ribbon". thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com.Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved31 May 2019.
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^abcdefghiCampbell, Andy (2019).Queer X Design: 50 Years of Signs, Symbols, Banners, Logos, and Graphic Art of LGBTQ. Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. p. 218-221.ISBN9780762467853.
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