Robyn is the CEO & Founder of HER. Find her on Twitter.
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Sep 23, 2022
If there’s one thing we know about queer people, it’s that we do love representation and a flag is a way to show enthusiasm, community, and of course, pride for our LGBTQ+ identities. And if you’ve been to sort of any Pride parade, you know that queer flags span well beyond the classic rainbow.
Today, we’re specifically talking about the bisexual flag, an iconic symbol of bisexuality. And to truly honor the bi flag in all of her glory, we’ve made a list of some of our favorite bi flag facts. Let’s get into the deets:
Time for a quick history lesson, folks!
The bisexual flag was designed by bisexual activist Michael Page in 1998 after realizing that many members of the bisexual community struggled to feel connected to the rainbow Pride flag.
Page noticed that many bi folks felt left out of certain Pride events, and wanted to create a symbol specifically for the bisexual community.
But solidarity wasn’t the only intention behind the bi flag. Page also wanted to foster a sense of bi visibility. After all, bi erasure is still alive and was even worse back in the 90s.
To make the flag as accessible as possible, Page didn’t add any trademarks or patents, but rather declared it 100% free for commercial use—which is exactly why we get to see so many beautiful bi flags at Pride!
The bi flag wasn’t the only thing created to promote bisexual visibility—an entire holiday came shortly after. In 1999, the bisexual community began marking every September 23rd as Bisexual Visibility Day.
Since then, bisexual visibility has extended to a full week 😄. Bisexual Awareness Week is celebrated annually from September 16th – 23rd and is a great way to honor and celebrate the bi people in your life. (Including yourself)
Fun fact: Because it was harder for bisexual folks to find one another, bi activists worked together in online chat rooms to find another and draw awareness to this holiday. To this day, social media is still a powerful tool to connect bi folks.
The bi flag isn’t just pretty to look at—it has some pretty cool symbolism associated with its history.
The layer of pink or fuchsia at the top is said to represent folks having same-gender attraction, such as gay or lesbian folks.
The layer of blue at the top signifies people who have opposite gender attractions.
And the layer of lavender at the bottom (a combination of blue and pink) represents people who are attracted to those of the same genders or different genders. AKA, bi people ✨
Advocacy for bisexual people certainly hasn’t stopped at the creation of its flag. Now people are calling for a digital flag. Yep, we want a bi flag emoji!
Most social media platforms have a rainbow flag emoji, (there’s now a trans one too 🏳️⚧️), but there’s yet to be a bi flag. However, last year, a software engineer and bisexual community advocate Tanner Marino reached out to the Unicode Consortium and requested a bisexual flag, only to have his proposal rejected. (Apparently, the Unicode Consortium didn’t think it would be used very frequently…)
But then Marino started a petition that reached over 10k signatures. That’s right, folks—queer people show UP!
Unfortunately, Unicode doesn’t take petitions into account in their emoji-choosing process, and there has yet to be a bisexual flag emoji. But our fingers are still crossed. Here’s hoping that bi folks (and any other queer communities currently lacking an emoji for their flag) get their emojis soon.
Here’s a fun new phrase for you: bisexual lightning! Bi lightning occurs when an image, video, or film uses the shades of the bisexual flag (pink, blue, and purple) to highlight or showcase a person’s bisexuality.
It looks badass. But don’t just take our word for it — check out Janelle Monae’s music video, Make Me Feel. It’s also been used in the iconic Black Mirror episode, San Junipero, Demi Lovato’s music video Cool for the Summer, and Ariana Grande’s 7 Rings. By the way, we have an article dedicated to bisexual celebrities that cannot be missed.
Whether at a Pride parade, on a t-shirt, or in a music video, the bi flag is a symbol and a beacon for bi folks everywhere.
Robyn is the CEO & Founder of HER. Find her on Twitter.
