The Polyamorous Flag Meaning – History & More!

Have you ever wondered about the polyamorous flag meaning? There have been many iterations of the polyamory flag over the years, but what do the most popular ones mean?

Photo Credit: PolyamProud

Polyamory is a form of ethical non-monogamy where people consensually agree to date or be in a romantic partnership with more than one person at a time. Polyamory, however, doesn’t directly fall under the umbrella of the LQBTQ+ community, which most pride flags are associated with.

However, polyamory is often considered to be queer-adjacent. The community consists largely of queer or bisexual individuals. It’s also an uncommon way of conducting relationships that diverges from the cultural norm. Thus, creating the desire for a polyamory pride flag.

In this post, I’ll be covering the history and meaning of the original polyamory pride flag and the origins and meaning of the new polyamory flag that was voted for in November 2022.

This post is all about the polyamorous flag meaning!

 

Related Post: What is a Polyamorous Relationship?

 

The History of the Original Polyamory Pride Flag

Photo Credit: Jim Evans

Jim Evans created the original polyamory pride flag in 1995. The imagery and symbolism of the LGBTQ+ community inspired him. The pride flag particularly made an impression on him. He wanted something similar for the polyamorous community, so he took it upon himself to create one.

Evans was by no means a graphic designer and used Microsoft Paint on his Windows 3.1 computer to create the design. Initially, the flag was mostly used by himself and his friends. However, it later took off with the rise of the internet. The flag is often critiqued as being ugly or unpleasant. The colours, though holding symbolism, are considered bright and obnoxious to look at.

People have also expressed distaste for the use of the pi symbol. Evans himself has stated that “perhaps a lemniscate (infinity symbol) would’ve been a better choice”. An infinity heart is commonly used in many newer flags and polyamory symbols today but this symbol was not widely used when Evans created his flag. Evans purposely avoided using a heart to avoid confusion, as the leather pride flag, which came prior, had already used it.

 

The Original Polyamorous Flag Meaning

The colours and pi symbol of the original flag were all designed to have a symbolic meaning related to the polyamorous community. This is what Evans had to say about the flag’s meaning:

“The poly pride flag consists of three equal horizontal colored stripes with a symbol in the center of the flag. The colors of the stripes, from top to bottom, are as follows: blue, representing the openness and honesty among all partners with which we conduct our multiple relationships; red, representing love and passion; and black, representing solidarity with those who, though they are open and honest with all participants of their relationships, must hide those relationships from the outside world due to societal pressures. The symbol in the center of the flag is a gold Greek lowercase letter ‘pi’, as the first letter of ‘polyamory’. The letter’s gold color represents the value that we place on the emotional attachment to others, be the relationship friendly or romantic in nature, as opposed to merely primarily physical relationships.” –Jim Evans

Openness and honesty are hallmarks of healthy and consensual polyamory, without these it wouldn’t be polyamory at all.

Love and passion are also important aspects. Love is largely what polyamory centers around, as the word translates from Latin to “many loves”. Passion is also important to many, though to some more than others. While polyamory isn’t inherently about the physical, it can be an enjoyable and desired aspect for many.

The gold helps balance this out by emphasizing the importance of emotional intimacy over the physical, as is the primary intention of polyamory.

Unfortunately, because polyamory diverges from the social norm it is often unaccepted or misunderstood causing many people to keep their relationship style a secret from the outside world. The black stripe represents solidarity with these people.

 

The New Polyamory Pride Flag

Photo Credit: PolyamProud

Over the years, many new iterations of the polyamory pride flag were created, but no consensus had been made determining any of them official. Although the original flag was still considered the “official” flag, people often used other versions they preferred to symbolize their polyamory. That is, until November 2022 when the team at PolyamProud held a public vote for the new polyamory flag.

Their campaign opened in May 2021. They sought submissions from artists around the world and narrowed it down to four choices. Ultimately, they received over 30,000 votes within a month, thus crowning the new polyamory pride flag.

 

The New Polyamorous Flag Meaning

The new flag was designed by Red Howell intending to improve upon elements of the original. PolyamProud had this to say about the flag’s meaning:

“It takes the best of the original flag, including its color symbolism, and improves on those elements of the Pi flag which alienated viewers.

A chevron points toward the opposite end of the flag, a symbol of growth and progress, and sits asymmetrically on the flag to reflect the non-traditional style of polyamorous relationships. The heart within reminds us that love in all forms is the core of non-monogamy.

The chevron’s white represents possibility.

Magenta stands for desire, love, and attraction.

Blue stands for openness and honesty.

Gold represents the energy and perseverance of those in the non-monogamous community. 

Purple represents a united non-monogamous community.”

 

Differences & Similarities

The new flag contains much similar symbolism to the original but diverges in some ways. White was added to represent the wide variety of ways polyamorous people can create their relationships. It also represents hope for the future of the polyamorous community.

Red changed to magenta to include the element of desire, which can be experienced outside of love or passion. The intention of this to challenge paradigms and represent a wider variety of relationship styles and personal identities.

Blue remained the same to represent the importance of openness and honesty in polyamory, as well as the hope that someday every person can be open about their polyamorous identity or relationship style.

Gold switched to represent perseverance. Polyamorous people often face adversity from both society and those around them, but they persevere regardless, finding strength and empowerment in defying the norm and expressing love the way they choose.

Black also changed to purple to show unity with people of all races, ethnicities, genders, and sexualities who practice non-monogamy and those whose cultural history of non-monogamy has been repressed or erased.

The pi symbol changed to a heart to better represent the polyamorous community and how love is at its core.

 

As you can see, the polyamorous pride flag has a unique history full of many iterations. Polyamorous people are free to use whichever flag they feel suits them best. However, it sure is nice to have a new official flag that the majority of the polyamorous community can agree on!

 

Post by Morgan Peters

 

Other Posts You May Like:

What is Ethical Non-Monogamy & Why is It on the Rise?

30 Polyamory Terms You Should Know!

Polyamory vs Polygamy vs Polyandry: What’s the Difference?

 

Sources:

Brand, Thomas H. “Celebrating the New Polyamory Pride Flag.” Discovering Polyamory, Discovering Polyamory, 2 Jan. 2023, www.discoveringpolyamory.com/blog/celebrating-the-new-polyamory-pride-flag.

Evans, Jim. “Polyamory, Pride Flags, and Patterns of Feedback.” Polyamory, Pride Flags, and Patterns of Feedback, 23 Aug. 2016, jimevansmusic.blogspot.com/2016/08/polyamory-pride-flags-and-patterns-of.html.