View source for LGBTQ symbols

{{Short description|Flags and symbols used by the LGBTQ community}}
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{{Use American English|date=April 2019}}
{{LGBT symbols}}
{{LGBTQ sidebar|culture}}
<!--[[NOTE to Editors: when writing about pre-1980s events and history, please keep in mind that the community was referred to as "Gay"; when writing about pre-1990s, it was referred to as Lesbian and Gay (or vice-versa). "LGBT" did not exist before the 1990s.-->

Over the course of its history, the [[LGBTQ community]] has adopted certain [[symbol]]s for [[Identity (social science)|self-identification]] to demonstrate unity, [[gay pride|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 the [[pink triangle]] and the [[Rainbow flag (LGBTQ)|rainbow flag]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=LACDMH |date=2022-06-16 |title=A Brief History of Our LGBTQIA2-S Pride Flag |url=https://dmh.lacounty.gov/blog/2022/06/a-brief-history-of-our-lgbtqia2-s-pride-flag/ |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=Department of Mental Health |language=en-US |archive-date=2024-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240115232729/https://dmh.lacounty.gov/blog/2022/06/a-brief-history-of-our-lgbtqia2-s-pride-flag/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=SafeZones@SDSU {{!}} LGBT Symbols {{!}} SDSU {{!}} SDSU |url=https://newscenter.sdsu.edu/lgbtq/lgbt_symbols.aspx |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=newscenter.sdsu.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Eastern Illinois University :: Center For Gender and Sexual Diversity - (Page Desc) |url=https://www.eiu.edu/lgbtqa/symbolism.php |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=www.eiu.edu |archive-date=2024-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240407083917/https://www.eiu.edu/lgbtqa/symbolism.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Letters and glyphs==
=== Gender symbols ===
{{details|topic=sex and gender symbols|Gender symbol#Sexual orientation and gender politics}}[[File:Westerkerk - Gay symbols 2.jpg|thumb|Lesbian and gay male interlocked gender sex symbols|left]]

The female and male [[Gender symbol|gender symbols]] are derived from the [[astronomical symbols]] for the planets [[Venus]] and [[Mars]] respectively. Following [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], biologists use the planetary symbol for Venus to represent the [[Female|female sex]], and the planetary symbol for Mars to represent the [[Male|male sex]].

Two interlocking female symbols <big>(⚢)</big> represent a [[lesbian]] or the lesbian community, and two interlocking male symbols <big>(⚣)</big> a [[Gay men|gay male]] or the gay male community.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stevens |first=Christy |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofle00bzim/page/748 |title=Encyclopedia of Lesbian Histories and Cultures |date=November 30, 1999 |publisher=[[Garland Publishing]] |isbn=9780203825532 |editor-last=Zimmerman |editor-first=Bonnie |location=New York |pages=747–748 |language=en-us |chapter=Symbols |doi=10.4324/9780203825532 |quote=}}</ref><ref name="lambdasymbols">{{cite web|date=December 26, 2004|title=Symbols of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Movements|url=http://www.lambda.org/symbols.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051230095156/http://www.lambda.org/symbols.htm|archive-date=December 30, 2005|access-date=22 August 2018|website=lambda.org|publisher=LAMBDA GLBT Community Services}}</ref> These symbols first appeared in the 1970s.<ref name="lambdasymbols" />

The combined male-female symbol (⚦) is used to represent [[androgyne]] 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.<ref>{{cite web|date=July 1994|title=Transgender Symbol|url=https://www.gendertalk.com/tg-symbol/|website=GenderTalk|access-date=2018-11-13|archive-date=2018-11-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114010800/https://www.gendertalk.com/tg-symbol/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=2015|title=History of Transgender Symbolism|url=http://transgendersociety.yolasite.com/history-of-transgender-symbolism.php|website=International Transgender Historical Society (ITHS)|access-date=2018-11-13|archive-date=2021-06-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601020917/http://transgendersociety.yolasite.com/history-of-transgender-symbolism.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Lambda===
[[File:Lambda-letter-lowercase-symbol-Garamond.svg|thumb|right|upright=0.5|Lower-case lambda]]
In 1970, graphic designer [[Tom Doerr]] selected the lower-case Greek letter [[Lambda#Lower-case letter λ|lambda]] (λ) to be the symbol of the New York chapter of the [[Gay Activists Alliance]].<ref name="Rapp_alliance">{{cite web|last=Rapp|first=Linda|year=2004|title=Gay Activists Alliance|url=http://www.glbtqarchive.com/ssh/gay_activists_alliance_S.pdf|website=[[glbtq.com]]|access-date=2016-05-07|archive-date=2016-06-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601003719/http://www.glbtqarchive.com/ssh/gay_activists_alliance_S.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=June 2009|title=1969, The Year of Gay Liberation|url=http://web-static.nypl.org/exhibitions/1969/ref/1696848.html|access-date=17 November 2018|website=[[The New York Public Library]]|archive-date=22 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022170450/http://web-static.nypl.org/exhibitions/1969/ref/1696848.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The alliance's literature states that Doerr chose the symbol specifically for its denotative meaning in the context of chemistry and [[Lambda transition|physics]]: "a complete exchange of energy–that moment or span of time witness to absolute activity".<ref name="Rapp_alliance" />

The lambda became associated with [[gay liberation]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Goodwin|first1=Joseph P.|url=https://archive.org/details/moremanthanyoull00good|title=More Man Than You'll Ever Be: Gay Folklore and Acculturation in Middle America|date=1989|publisher=[[Indiana University Press]]|isbn=978-0253338938|page=[https://archive.org/details/moremanthanyoull00good/page/26 26]|chapter=It Takes One to Know One|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Rapp_symbols">{{cite web|last1=Rapp|first1=Linda|date=2003|title=Symbols|url=http://www.glbtqarchive.com/arts/symbols_A.pdf|website=[[glbtq.com]]|access-date=2018-11-16|archive-date=2012-02-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208183851/http://www.glbtq.com/arts/symbols.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and in December 1974, it was officially declared the international symbol for gay and lesbian rights by the [[Outright Scotland|International Gay Rights Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofga00ghag/page/529|title=Gay Histories and Cultures: An Encyclopedia (Encyclopedia of Gay Histories and Cultures, Volume II)|date=2000|publisher=[[Garland Publishing]]|isbn=0-8153-1880-4|editor1-last=Haggerty|editor1-first=George E.|edition=1|location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofga00ghag/page/529 529]|quote=[[WorldCat|OCLC]] Number: 750790369}}</ref> The gay rights organization [[Lambda Legal]] and the American [[Lambda Literary Foundation]] derive their names from this symbol.

==Plants==
{{See also|Language of flowers|}}
The color [[Lavender (color)|lavender]] and the eponymous [[Lavandula|plant]] are symbols of LGBTQ identity. This has led to the naming of terms such as the "[[Lavender Scare]]" and "[[lavender marriage]]".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-10-29 |title=LGBTQ lexicon: What's the significance of the color lavender? |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2014/10/29/lgbtq-lexicon-what-s-the-significance-of-the-color-lavender/ |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=Dallas News |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Willingham |first=A. J. |date=2023-06-25 |title=The secret queer history of flowers |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/25/us/flowers-lgbtq-lavender-meaning-cec/index.html#:~:text=Purple%20hues%20have%20been%20associated,color%20being%20linked%20to%20effeminacy. |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-06-04 |title=How Lavender Became a Symbol of LGBTQ Resistance |url=https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/175872 |access-date=2024-01-29 |website=History News Network |language=en}}</ref>

In 19th-century England, [[green]] indicated homosexual affiliations, as popularized by queer author [[Oscar Wilde]], who often wore a green [[carnation]] on his lapel.<ref>Stetz, Margaret D. (Winter 2000). [http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/biography/v023/23.1stetz.html ''Oscar Wilde at the Movies: British Sexual Politics and The Green Carnation (1960)''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090931/http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=%2Fjournals%2Fbiography%2Fv023%2F23.1stetz.html |date=2016-03-04 }}; Biography&nbsp;– Volume 23, Number 1, Winter 2000, pp. 90–107. Retrieved 14 June 2010.</ref><ref>''Curiosities of Literature'' by John Sutherland (2011, {{isbn|1-61608-074-4}}), pp. 73-76.</ref> According to some interpretations, American poet [[Walt Whitman]] used the [[Acorus calamus|sweet flag]] plant to represent homoerotic male love because of its [[phallic]] connotations.<ref>{{cite book |last=Herrero-Brasas |first=Juan A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ca4FuDfH-cMC&pg=PA46 |title=Walt Whitman's Mystical Ethics of Comradeship: Homosexuality and the Marginality of Friendship at the Crossroads of Modernity |publisher=SUNY |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4384-3011-9 |page=46}}</ref >

The term {{nihongo||薔薇|bara}}, "[[rose]]" in Japanese, has historically been used in [[Japan]] as a [[pejorative]] for [[men who love men]], roughly equivalent to the English language term "[[wikt:pansy#Synonyms|pansy]]".<ref name=Problem>{{cite web |url= http://gaymanga.tumblr.com/post/102108686772/i-see-that-the-wish-to-move-away-from-the-term |title= Is 'Bara' Problematic? |last= Kolbeins |first= Graham |date= November 8, 2014 |work= Gay Manga! |access-date= October 8, 2018 |archive-date= December 4, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181204173646/http://gaymanga.tumblr.com/post/102108686772/i-see-that-the-wish-to-move-away-from-the-term |url-status= live }}</ref><ref name=":0 2">{{Cite book |title=Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men who Make it |publisher=Fantagraphics |year=2014 |isbn=9781606997857 |editor-last=Ishii |editor-first=Anne |pages= |editor-last2=Kidd |editor-first2=Chip |editor-last3=Kolbeins |editor-first3=Graham}}</ref>{{Rp|page=40}} Beginning in the 1960s, the term was [[reappropriated]] by Japanese gay media: notably with the 1961 anthology {{Interlanguage link|Ba-ra-kei: Ordeal by Roses|lt=''Ba-ra-kei: Ordeal by Roses''|ja|薔薇刑|WD=}}, a collection of semi-nude photographs of homosexual writer [[Yukio Mishima]] by photographer [[Eikoh Hosoe]],<ref name=":0 2" />{{Rp|page=34}} and later with {{nihongo||薔薇族|[[Barazoku]]|lit. "rose tribe"}} in 1971, the first commercially produced [[gay magazine]] in [[Asia]].<ref name="TimesBarazoku">{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/asia-travel/japan/voice-of-gay-japan-falls-silent-after-30-years-in-the-pink-pqtmmswbcwk|title=Voice of gay Japan falls silent after 30 years in the pink|last1=Lewis|first1=Leo|last2=Teeman|first2=Tim|date=October 12, 2004|work=[[The Times]]|access-date=September 1, 2009|archive-date=April 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420055754/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/voice-of-gay-japan-falls-silent-after-30-years-in-the-pink-pqtmmswbcwk|url-status=live}}</ref> The use of the rose as a prominent symbol of love between males is supposedly derived from the [[Greek myth]] of [[Laius|King Laius]] having [[Pederasty in ancient Greece|affairs with boys]] under rose trees.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ito|first=Bungaku|trans-title=The Chief of ''Barazoku''|title=『薔薇族』編集長|year=2006|publisher=Gentosha Outlaw Bunko|isbn=978-4-344-40864-7|pages=35–37}}</ref> Since the 2000s, ''[[Bara (genre)|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 between [[Masculinity|masculine men]].<ref name=HistoryofBara>{{cite web |url= http://gaymanga.tumblr.com/post/86321737982/tagagen-my-old-friend-sent-me-a-vintage |title= The History of the Term 'Bara' (via Archive) |last= Kolbeins |first= Graham |date=May 20, 2014 |work= Gay Manga! |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140718132337/http://gaymanga.tumblr.com/post/86321737982/tagagen-my-old-friend-sent-me-a-vintage |access-date= October 8, 2018 |archive-date= July 18, 2014}}</ref> The rose is also the sacred flower of [[Eros]],<ref name=Smith1873>{{cite book |author-link=William Smith (lexicographer) |last=Smith |first=William |year=1873 |title=[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]] |place=London, UK |chapter=Eros |chapter-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DE%3Aentry+group%3D6%3Aentry%3Deros-bio-1 |access-date=2022-08-26 |archive-date=2022-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220826214833/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic%20letter%3DE%3Aentry%20group%3D6%3Aentry%3Deros-bio-1 |url-status=live }}</ref> the Greek god of love and sex, and patron of love between men.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Cassell's Encyclopedia of Queer Myth, Symbol and Spirit|last=Conner |first=Randy P. |author2=Sparks, David Hatfield|author3=Sparks, Mariya |year=1998 |publisher=Cassell |location=UK |isbn=0-304-70423-7 |page=133}}</ref> Eros was responsible for the first rose to sprout on Earth, followed by every flower and herb.<ref>{{cite book |first=James M. |last=Robinson |author-link=James M. Robinson |year=2007 |orig-year=1st&nbsp;publ.&nbsp;1978 |section=On the Origin of the World |title=The Nag Hammadi Scriptures |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=9780060523787 |url=http://gnosis.org/naghamm/origin-Barnstone.html |access-date=2022-08-26 |archive-date=2022-08-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220821092404/http://gnosis.org/naghamm/origin-Barnstone.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Roses are a symbol of [[pederasty in ancient Greece]]: [[Eromenoi|handsome boys]] were metaphorically called roses by their [[Erastes (Ancient Greece)|male admirers]] in homoerotic poems such as those by [[Solon]], [[Straton of Sardis|Straton]], [[Meleager of Gadara|Meleager]], [[Rhianus]], and [[Philostratos]].<ref name=Géczi2006>{{cite book |author-link= |last=Géczi |first=János |year=2006 |title=The rose in ancient Greek culture. Practice and Theory in Systems of Education. |place= |chapter=The roses of pederasty – trend toward desanctification |chapter-url=http://epa.oszk.hu/01400/01428/00001/pdf/0101geczi.pdf |access-date=2022-08-27 |archive-date=2022-08-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220827021049/http://epa.oszk.hu/01400/01428/00001/pdf/0101geczi.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

As opposed to the red rose and its association with romantic affection, giving someone a yellow rose is symbolic of platonic love. Because of this, yellow roses have also become popular as symbols of [[aromantic]] people.<ref>{{cite web |title=Aromantic flag and symbols explained |url=https://www.asexuals.net/aromantic-flag-and-symbols-explained/ |website=asexuals.net}}</ref>

[[Viola (plant)#Cultural associations|Violets]] and their [[Violet (color)#Social movement|color]] became a special code used by lesbians and bisexual women.<ref name="Alyson">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/alysonalmanactr00bost/mode/2up|title=The Alyson Almanac: A Treasury of Information for the Gay and Lesbian Community|date=1989|publisher=[[Alyson Publications]]|isbn=0-932870-19-8|location=Boston, Massachusetts|page=[https://archive.org/details/alysonalmanactr00bost/page/100 100]|chapter=Gay Symbols Through the Ages|url-access=limited}}</ref><ref name="Myers-242">{{cite book|last1=Myers|first1=JoAnne|url=https://archive.org/details/tozlesbianlibera00myer/page/242/mode/2up|title=Historical Dictionary of the Lesbian Liberation Movement: Still the Rage|publisher=[[The Scarecrow Press]]|year=2003|isbn=978-0810845060|edition=1st|location=Lanham, Maryland|page=242|lccn=2002156624|url-access=limited}}</ref><ref name="Horak">{{cite book|last1=Horak|first1=Laura|title=Girls Will Be Boys: Cross-Dressed Women, Lesbians, and American Cinema, 1908-1934|date=2016|publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]]|isbn=978-0-8135-7483-7|pages=143–144|chapter=Lesbians Take Center Stage: The Captive (1926-1928)}}</ref> The symbolism of the flower derives from several fragments of poems by [[Sappho]] in which she describes a lover wearing garlands or a crown with violets.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Collecott|first1=Diana|title=H.D. and Sapphic Modernism 1910-1950|date=1999|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=0-521-55078-5|edition=1st|location=Cambridge, England, UK|page=216}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Fantham|first1=Elaine|author1-link=Elaine Fantham |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195067279/mode/2up|title=Women in the Classical World: Image and Text|last2=Foley|first2=Helene Peet|author2-link=Helene Peet Foley |last3=Kampen|first3=Natalie Boymel|author3-link=Natalie Boymel Kampen |last4=Pomeroy|first4=Sarah B.|author4-link=Sarah B. Pomeroy |last5=Shapiro|first5=H. A.|date=1994|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-506727-9|edition=1st|location=New York, New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195067279/page/15 15]}}</ref> In 1926, the play ''[[The Captive (play)|La Prisonnière]]'' by [[Édouard Bourdet]] used a bouquet of violets to signify lesbian love.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cohen-Stratyner|first1=Barbara|date=January 14, 2014|title=Violets and Vandamm|url=https://www.nypl.org/blog/2014/01/14/violets-vandamm|access-date=4 October 2018|website=[[New York Public Library]]|archive-date=4 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004145028/https://www.nypl.org/blog/2014/01/14/violets-vandamm|url-status=live}}</ref> When the play became subject to censorship, many Parisian lesbians wore violets to demonstrate solidarity with its lesbian subject matter.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sova|first1=Dawn B.|url=https://archive.org/details/bannedplayscenso0000sova|title=Banned Plays: Censorship Histories of 125 Stage Dramas|date=2004|publisher=[[Facts On File]]|isbn=0-8160-4018-4|edition=1st|location=New York, New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bannedplayscenso0000sova/page/37 37–40]|chapter=The Captive|url-access=registration}}</ref>

White [[Lilium|lilies]] have been used since the [[Romanticism|Romantic era]] of [[Japanese literature]] to symbolize beauty and purity in women, and are a ''de facto'' symbol of the [[Yuri (genre)|''yuri'' genre]] ({{Nihongo|''yuri''|百合}} translates literally to "[[Lilium|lily]]"),<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Maser |first=Verena |title=Beautiful and Innocent: Female Same-Sex Intimacy in the Japanese Yuri Genre |date=2014-08-31 |degree=PhD |publisher=Universität Trier |url=https://ubt.opus.hbz-nrw.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/695 |doi=10.25353/ubtr-xxxx-db7c-6ffc |pages=3–4 |access-date=2022-12-17 |archive-date=2018-11-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181102234925/https://ubt.opus.hbz-nrw.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/695 |url-status=live }}</ref> which describes the portrayal of intimate love, sex, or emotional connections between women.<ref name="FriedmanInterview">{{cite web |last1=Aoki |first1=Deb |title=Interview: Erica Friedman |url= http://manga.about.com/od/mangaartistswriters/a/EFriedman.htm |access-date=January 11, 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080311234853/http://manga.about.com/od/mangaartistswriters/a/EFriedman.htm |archive-date=March 11, 2008 |date=March 11, 2008 |website=About.com}}</ref> The term {{nihongo|''Yurizoku''|百合族||{{lit}} "lily tribe"}} was coined in 1976 by [[Ito Bungaku]], editor of the gay men's magazine ''Barazoku'' (see above), to refer to his female readers.<ref name="heya-1">{{cite journal |date=November 1976 |title=Yurizoku no Heya |journal=Barazoku |pages=66–70 |language=ja}}</ref><ref name="WhatIsYuri">{{cite web |title=What is Yuri? |url=https://www.yuricon.com/what-is-yuricon/#whatisyuri |website=[[Yuricon]] |date=28 March 2011 |access-date=January 11, 2021 |archive-date=November 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111233755/https://www.yuricon.com/what-is-yuricon/#whatisyuri |url-status=live }}</ref> While not all those women were lesbians, and it is unclear whether this was the first instance of the term ''yuri'' in this context, an association of ''yuri'' with lesbianism subsequently developed.<ref>{{cite book|last=Welker|first=James |title=AsiaPacifQueer: Rethinking Genders and Sexualities|editor=Fran Martin |editor2=Peter Jackson |editor3=Audrey Yue|publisher=University of Illinois Press|year=2008|pages=46–66|chapter=Lilies of the Margin: Beautiful Boys and Queer Female Identities in Japan|isbn=978-0-252-07507-0}}</ref> In [[Korea]] and [[China]], "lily" is used as a [[semantic loan]] from the Japanese usage to describe female-female romance media, where each use the direct translation of the term – ''baekhap'' (백합) in Korea<ref>{{cite web | url=https://moneyfocus.tistory.com/290 | title=Gl/백합 만화 추천 10작품 | date=15 February 2021 | access-date=27 August 2022 | archive-date=6 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406185611/https://moneyfocus.tistory.com/290 | url-status=live }}</ref> and ''bǎihé'' (百合) in China.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.elle.com/tw/life/culture/g27068855/lesbian-japan-yuriten2019/ | title=這畫面太美我不敢看！女女戀不是禁忌，日本「百合展」呈現女孩間的真實愛戀！ | date=8 April 2019 | access-date=27 August 2022 | archive-date=8 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408071411/https://www.elle.com/tw/life/culture/g27068855/lesbian-japan-yuriten2019/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

In the late 1990s, activist Michael Page established the use of the [[trillium]] flower as a symbol of [[bisexuality]]. This was a [[pun]], as scientists had used the term "bisexual" to refer to the flower because such  flowers have [[hermaphrodite|both male and female reproductive organs]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Eidson |first1=Jessica |title=Plants That Can Symbolize LGBTQIA+ Pride |url=https://discoverandshare.org/2024/06/25/lgbtqiaplants/#:~:text=The%20trillium%20flower%20has%20symbolized,bisexual%20pride%20flag%20in%202001. |website=DISCOVER + SHARE |date=25 June 2024 |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden}}</ref> 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 a [[Mexico|Mexican]] variant of the [[bisexual pride flag]] emblazoned with a white trillium.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mexico - Sexual orientation flags |url=https://www.fotw.info/flags/mx_sex.html |website=FOTW 'Flags Of The World' Web Site |access-date=August 14, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bisexual Botany |url=https://www.lpzoo.org/bisexual-botany/#:~:text=Around%202001%2C%20the%20Mexican%20bisexual,Michigan%20lilies%20at%20Nature%20Boardwalk. |website=Lincoln Park Zoo | date=20 June 2024 |access-date=August 14, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Eyvanaki |first1=Ashley |title=Queer Objects: William Keble Martin Lily Illustration |url=https://outandabout.exeter.ac.uk/2020/10/29/queer-objects-william-keble-martin-lily-illustration/ |website=out and about |date=29 October 2020 |publisher=University of Exeter |access-date=August 14, 2024}}</ref>

[[Sexual fluidity]] and abrosexuality—terms that refer to a changing sexual orientation that cannot always be consistently described—are represented by the [[watermelon]]. Because it is composed primarily of water, the watermelon symbolizes a sexuality that is fluid.<ref>{{cite web |title=What does Abrosexual mean? |url=https://proudzebra.com/blogs/gender-identities/about-abrosexual#:~:text=The%20Abrosexual%20Pride%20Flag%20was,representative%20of%20being%20%22fluid%22. |website=ProudZebra| date=6 January 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=GET TO KNOW THE MEANING BEHIND THE COLORS OF MAJOR PRIDE FLAGS |url=https://www.sfgmc.org/blog/pride-flags#block-yui_3_17_2_1_1683145657332_176298 |website=SFGMC|date=17 April 2023 }}</ref>

Because the word "[[orchid]]" comes from the Greek word for [[testicle]], and the [[orchiectomy]] is a common surgery performed on [[intersex]] infants –especially those with [[androgen insensitivity syndrome]]– the orchid flower is a symbol of being [[intersex]] and of opposition to non-consensual genital surgery.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carpenter |first=Morgan |date=2013-10-26 |title=Symbols |url=https://intersexday.org/en/symbols/ |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=Intersex Day |language=en}}</ref>

In 2022, [[Orange (fruit)|oranges]] became popular with trans and nonbinary people starting in March with the release of the episode "This Is Happening"  of LGBTQ-themed pirate comedy series ''[[Our Flag Means Death]]''; oranges are a significant motif in the episode, in particular when nonbinary pirate Jim Jimenez (played by nonbinary actor [[Vico Ortiz]]) is revealed to have grown up on an orange grove. Then in April, Twitter user Antonia Terrazas tweeted a photo of an [[Old Navy]] shirt with oranges on a navy blue background with the caption, "Hot Transmasc Summer collection just dropped at Old Navy", causing the shirt to go viral. The phenomena converged when Ortiz purchased the shirt and posted a TikTok of them wearing it with matching boxer shorts.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Doyle |first=Jude Ellison S. |date=2022-06-13 |title=Oranges are literally the only fruit|url=https://xtramagazine.com/culture/orange-print-shirt-queer-uniform-224864 |access-date=2025-06-05 |website=Xtra Magazine |language=en}}</ref> 
{{gallery
|align=center
|noborder=yes
|File:Qəbələnin Çuxur-Qəbələ kəndində Lavanda sahəsi.jpg|Blooming [[lavender]]
|File:Green Carnation.jpg|The green [[Dianthus caryophyllus|carnation]] is a symbol of homosexuality, popularized by [[Oscar Wilde]].
|File:AcorusCalamus2.jpg|The [[Acorus calamus|sweet flag plant]] was possibly used by [[Walt Whitman]] to represent homoeroticism.
|File:Rosa Red Chateau01.jpg|[[Roses]] have been associated with male love in both ancient Greece and modern Japan.
|File: Yellow Rose (48524246391).jpg| A yellow rose.
|File:Viola reichenbachiana LC0128.jpg|[[Viola (plant)|Violets]], symbol of Sapphic love.
|File:Lilium longiflorum (Easter Lily).JPG|A white [[Lilium|lily]], the ''de facto'' symbol of the ''yuri'' genre
|File:Yellow trillium, April 2018--Warren Bielenberg (40026346960).jpg|The [[trillium]] flower is a symbol of [[bisexuality]]
|File:Slices of watermelon.jpg|Slices of [[watermelon]].
|File:Cattleya lueddemanniana costera.JPG|An [[orchid]] flower.
|
}}
{{clear}}

== Animals ==
Animals that lovers gave as gifts to their beloved also became symbols of pederastic love, such as [[hares]], [[roosters]], [[deer]], [[Felidae|felines]] and [[oxen]], as a metaphor for sexual pursuits.<ref>Judith M. Barringer, ''The Hunt in Ancient Greece'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001), pp. 70–72 [https://books.google.com/books?id=PMqCYtXqub4C&dq=%22Attic+vase+painting+scenes+of+pederastic+courtship%22&pg=PA70 online.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417051629/https://books.google.com/books?id=PMqCYtXqub4C&dq=%22Attic+vase+painting+scenes+of+pederastic+courtship%22&pg=PA70|date=2023-04-17}}</ref><ref>Robert B. Koehl, "The Chieftain Cup and a Minoan Rite of Passage," ''Journal of Hellenic Studies'' 106 (1986), pp. 105–107.</ref>

=== Blåhaj ===
[[File:IKEA Blåhaj plush shark toys - regular and small variants - side and bottom views.png|thumb|left|Small and large variants of [[Blåhaj]], displayed from the bottom (above) and side (below)]]
{{see also|Blåhaj#As a cultural phenomenon}}

The [[IKEA]] plush toy shark [[Blåhaj]] (stylized BLÅHAJ, {{IPA|sv|ˈblôːhaj|audio=Sv-Blåhaj.ogg}}, {{Literally|blue shark}}; colloquially [[Anglicisation of names|anglicised]] as {{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|l|ɑː|h|ɑː|ʒ}}, {{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|l|ɑː|h|ɑː}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|l|oʊ|h|aɪ}}) is commonly associated with LGBTQ culture, in particular the [[transgender]] community, in part due to being colored similarly to a [[transgender flag|transgender pride flag]].<ref name="INTOTrans">{{Cite web |last=Milner |first=Roz |title=How a Stuffed IKEA Shark Became a Trans Icon |url=https://www.intomore.com/the-internet/stuffed-ikea-shark-became-trans-icon/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202032848/https://www.intomore.com/the-internet/stuffed-ikea-shark-became-trans-icon/ |archive-date=2 February 2022 |access-date=18 July 2022 |website=INTO |language=en-US|date=1 February 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> Early origins of this are traced back to around 2020 and in 2021, when IKEA ran an ad-campaign [[2021 Swiss same-sex marriage referendum|to support same-sex marriage in Switzerland]] featuring the shark.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/how-ikea-shark-became-trans-icon-1753400|title=How the IKEA Shark Became a Trans Icon|date=23 October 2022|access-date=5 April 2023|publisher=newsweek|archive-date=5 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405021636/https://www.newsweek.com/how-ikea-shark-became-trans-icon-1753400|url-status=live}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=North |first=Nick |title=TLDR: @ikeacanada wants to give trans folks BLÅHAJ, tag and share!&nbsp;..." |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CkhBltmvc5m/ |access-date=2022-12-27 |website=Instagram |language=en |date=3 November 2022 |archive-date=2023-04-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405160719/https://www.instagram.com/p/CkhBltmvc5m/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{clear}}

===Lavender rhinoceros===
[[File:Lavender rhinoceros LGBT symbol.svg|thumb|A [[ lavender (color)|lavender]] rhinoceros, a symbol used as a sign of gay visibility.]]
Daniel Thaxton and Bernie Toale created a [[lavender (color)|lavender]] [[rhinoceros]] 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 was [[lavender (color)|lavender]] because that is a mix of pink and blue, making it a symbolic merger of the feminine and masculine. (Lavender had already been used [[lavender (color)#LGBTQ|to represent LGBTQ people in other contexts]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Violet delights: A queer history of purple |url=https://www.vam.ac.uk/dundee/articles/violet-delights-a-queer-history-of-purple |access-date=2023-10-24 |website=Violet delights: A queer history of purple |language=en |archive-date=2023-10-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231011042329/http://www.vam.ac.uk/dundee/articles/violet-delights-a-queer-history-of-purple |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-10-29 |title=LGBTQ lexicon: What's the significance of the color lavender? |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2014/10/29/lgbtq-lexicon-what-s-the-significance-of-the-color-lavender/ |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=Dallas News |language=en |archive-date=2024-03-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310020348/https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2014/10/29/lgbtq-lexicon-what-s-the-significance-of-the-color-lavender/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Article in the October 8, 1973 issue of [[Time magazine|''Time'' magazine]] about the ''Lavender Panthers'': [https://web.archive.org/web/20130720054347/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,908008,00.html "The Sexes: The Lavender Panthers"].</ref> 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 the [[Boston Pride (event)|Boston 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 the [[Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority]]'s [[Green Line (MBTA)|Green 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 at [[Boston City Hall]] in 1987.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Gray|first1=Arielle|date=June 3, 2019|title=How A Lavender Rhino Became A Symbol Of Gay Resistance In '70s Boston|url=https://www.wbur.org/artery/2019/06/03/lavender-rhino-gay-resistance-boston|access-date=December 5, 2019|website=[[WBUR-FM]]|archive-date=July 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724192754/https://www.wbur.org/artery/2019/06/03/lavender-rhino-gay-resistance-boston|url-status=live}}</ref>

Outside of Boston, [[Theatre Rhinoceros]], located in [[San Francisco]], and founded in 1977, based its name on this symbol.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Finding Aid to the Theatre Rhinoceros Records, 1968-2009, bulk 1981-2001 |url=https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8n29z94/entire_text/ |access-date=2023-05-03 |website=oac.cdlib.org |archive-date=2024-09-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907192839/https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8n29z94/entire_text/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Theatre Rhinoceros, also called Theatre Rhino, or The Rhino, is a gay and lesbian theatre.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Joseph |first1=Miranda |title=Against the Romance of Community |date=2002 |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |isbn=9780816637966 |page=75 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uRwhHHuiHw8C&dq=%22theatre+rhinoceros%22&pg=PA75 |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=7 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907192840/https://books.google.com/books?id=uRwhHHuiHw8C&dq=%22theatre+rhinoceros%22&pg=PA75#v=onepage&q=%22theatre%20rhinoceros%22&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> It claims to be the world's longest-running professional queer theatre company.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.therhino.org/about |access-date=2023-05-03 |website=The Rhino |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501222116/https://www.therhino.org/about |url-status=live }}</ref> An online bookstore focused on LGBTQ authors and books called "The Lavender Rhino" launched in 2023.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://thelavenderrhino.com/pages/about-us |website=The Lavender Rhino |access-date=22 June 2024 |archive-date=7 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907193006/https://thelavenderrhino.com/pages/about-us |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{clear}}

=== Unicorn ===
[[File:Helsinki Pride 2019 Senaatintori 10.jpg|thumb|A unicorn at [[Helsinki Pride]] in 2019|left|247x247px]]
[[Unicorn|Unicorns]] have become a symbol of LGBTQ culture due to earlier associations between the animal and rainbows being extended to the [[Rainbow flag (LGBTQ)|rainbow flag]] created in 1978 by [[Gilbert Baker (artist)|Gilbert Baker]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Fisher |first=Alice |date=2017-10-15 |title=Why the unicorn has become the emblem for our times {{!}} Alice Fisher |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/15/return-of-the-unicorn-the-magical-beast-of-our-times |access-date=2018-08-19 |website=the Guardian |language=en |archive-date=2022-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220323121110/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/15/return-of-the-unicorn-the-magical-beast-of-our-times |url-status=live }}</ref>

Alice Fisher of ''[[The 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."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fisher |first=Alice |date=October 15, 2017 |title=Why the unicorn has become the emblem for our times |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/15/return-of-the-unicorn-the-magical-beast-of-our-times |url-status=live |access-date=April 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220323121110/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/15/return-of-the-unicorn-the-magical-beast-of-our-times |archive-date=March 23, 2022}}</ref>

''[[Gay Star News]]'' said in 2018 that unicorns are the "gay, [[LGBTQ#Intersex inclusion|LGBTI]] and queer icons of our time".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wareham |first=Jamie |date=2018-08-17 |title=Unicorns are the gay, LGBTI and queer icons of our time (and I'm obsessed) |url=https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/evidence-unicorns-are-queer-icons/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302130745/https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/evidence-unicorns-are-queer-icons/ |archive-date=2022-03-02 |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=Gay Star News |language=en-GB}}</ref>

=== Butterfly ===
{{gallery
|align=right
|noborder=yes
|height=140
|width=140
|File:Another Yin-Yang-Yuan BigButterfly TransGender-Symbol.png|A transgender butterfly symbol.
|File:Speyeria mormonia 3313.jpg|The [[Mormon fritillary]], a butterfly that undergoes a [[sequential hermaphroditism | natural gender transition]] from male to female.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gandhi |first1=Maneka |title=Sex-change process among many marine species helps them maintain male-female ratio, allows reproduction as per need |url=https://www.firstpost.com/india/sex-change-process-among-many-marine-species-helps-them-maintain-male-female-ratio-allows-reproduction-as-per-need-7232731.html |website=Firstpost.|date=27 August 2019 }}</ref>
}}
Due to the [[metamorphosis]] from caterpillar to [[butterfly]], butterflies are often used as symbols of transformation. Because of this, they can symbolize [[gender transition]] and transgender identity.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hands In, Hands On: A Transgender Awareness Campaign |url=https://lgbtqia.gatech.edu/hands-in-hands-on#:~:text=Butterflies%20are%20a%20symbol%20of,that%20represents%20the%20campaign%20participant. |website=Georgia Tech}}</ref>

{{clear}}

== Other symbols ==
Symbols of the LGBTQ community have been used to represent members' unity, pride, shared values, and allegiance to one another.

=== Triangle badges of Nazi Germany ===
{{Main|Pink triangle|Persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany}}

One of the oldest of these symbols is the downward-pointing [[pink triangle]] that male homosexuals, male bisexuals, and transgender women in [[Nazi concentration camps]] were required to wear on their clothing. The badge is one of several [[Nazi concentration camp badges|badges]] that internees wore to identify what kind of prisoners they were.<ref name="Plant1988">{{Cite book | last=Plant | first=Richard | year=1988 | title=The pink triangle: the Nazi war against homosexuals | edition=revised | publisher=H. Holt | isbn=978-0-8050-0600-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKSbQbEzif8C | page=175 | access-date=2020-07-12 | archive-date=2023-01-19 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119114934/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKSbQbEzif8C | url-status=live }}</ref> Many of the estimated 5,000–15,000 gay men imprisoned in [[concentration camp]]s did not survive.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/hsx/ |title=Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945 |publisher=Ushmm.org |access-date=2012-01-23 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119045626/http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/hsx/ |archive-date=2012-01-19 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ShPyCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA27|title=Holocaust Icons: Symbolizing the Shoah in History and Memory|last=Stier|first=Oren Baruch|date=2015|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=9780813574059|language=en|access-date=2016-12-11|archive-date=2024-09-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907192841/https://books.google.com/books?id=ShPyCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA27#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Elman">{{Cite news|last1=Elman|first1=R. Amy|title=Triangles and Tribulations: The Politics of Nazi Symbols|website=Remember.org|url=http://remember.org/educate/elman|access-date=December 10, 2016|archive-date=December 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220110705/http://remember.org/educate/elman|url-status=live}} (Originally published in the ''[[Journal of Homosexuality]]'', 1996, 30 (3): pp.1–11, {{doi|10.1300/J082v30n03_01}}, {{ISSN|0091-8369}})</ref> AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power ([[ACT-UP]]) adopted the downward-pointing pink triangle to symbolize the "active fight back" against [[HIV]]/[[AIDS]] "rather than a passive resignation to fate."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WSn7026sq_cC&pg=PA47|title=Gayle: The Language of Kinks and Queens : a History and Dictionary of Gay Language in South Africa|last1=Cage|first1=Ken|last2=Evans|first2=Moyra|date=2003-01-01|publisher=Jacana Media|isbn=9781919931494|language=en|access-date=2016-12-10|archive-date=2024-09-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907192842/https://books.google.com/books?id=WSn7026sq_cC&pg=PA47#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

The pink triangle was used exclusively with male prisoners, including transfeminine individuals, as cisgender lesbians were not included under [[Paragraph 175]], a statute which made homosexual acts between males a crime.<ref name="USHMM1">{{cite web|title=Lesbians and the Third Reich|url=http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005478|access-date=16 January 2015|publisher=[[United States Holocaust Memorial Museum]]|archive-date=19 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119054010/http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005478|url-status=live}}</ref> Lesbian sexual relations were illegal only in Austria and historians differ on whether they were persecuted or not, due to lack of evidence.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Huneke |first1=Samuel Clowes |title=Heterogeneous Persecution: Lesbianism and the Nazi State |journal=Central European History |date=2021 |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=297–325 |doi=10.1017/S0008938920000795 |s2cid=235760995 |language=en |issn=0008-9389}}</ref> Some lesbians were imprisoned with a [[Black triangle (badge)|black triangle]] symbolizing supposed "asociality", this symbol was later reclaimed by postwar lesbians.<ref name="Elman" />

{{gallery
|align=center
|noborder=yes
|height=140
|width=140
|File:Pink triangle.svg|The downward-pointing pink triangle was used to identify homosexual men and transgender women in the concentration camps.
|File:Black triangle.svg|The downward-pointing black triangle was used to mark individuals considered "asocial". The category included homosexual women, nonconformists, sex workers, [[nomad]]s, [[Romani people|Romani]], and others.
|File:Pink triangle jew.svg|The downward-pointing pink triangle overlapping a yellow triangle was used to single out male homosexual prisoners who were [[Jew]]ish.
}}

====Biangles====
[[File:Bi triangles.svg|thumb|left|The biangles, designed by artist Liz Nania to represent bisexuality]]
The biangles were designed by artist Liz Nania, as she co-organized a bisexual contingent for the [[Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights]] in 1987.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.liznania.com/early-work|title=Biangles, bisexual symbol, bi colors, bi history|website=Liz Nania|access-date=2024-04-19|archive-date=2024-04-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426125159/https://www.liznania.com/early-work|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Dezeen">{{cite web | last=Jordahn | first=Sebastian | title=''Queer x Design highlights 50 years of LGBT+ graphic design'' | website=[[Dezeen]] | date=2019-10-23 | url=https://www.dezeen.com/2019/10/23/queer-design-andrew-campbell-50-years-lgbt-graphic-design/ | access-date=2021-06-12 | archive-date=2021-06-13 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613233207/https://www.dezeen.com/2019/10/23/queer-design-andrew-campbell-50-years-lgbt-graphic-design/ | url-status=live }}</ref> The design of the biangles began with the [[pink triangle]], a Nazi concentration camp badge that later became a symbol of [[gay liberation]] representing [[homosexuality]]. The addition of a blue triangle [[Gendered associations of pink and blue|contrasts the pink]] and represents [[heterosexuality]]. The two triangles overlap and form lavender, which represents the "queerness of bisexuality", referencing the [[Lavender Menace]] and 1980s and 1990s [[Lavender (color)#LGBTQ|associations of lavender with queerness]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Biangles, bisexual symbol, bi colors, bi history — Liz Nania |url=https://www.liznania.com/early-work |access-date=2022-06-26 |website=Liz Nania |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-06-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220608205658/https://www.liznania.com/early-work |url-status=live }}</ref>

Michael Page stated that, when designing the [[bisexual flag]], he took the colors and overlap of the flag from the biangles.<ref name="biflag">{{cite web |date=1998-12-05 |title=History, Bi Activism, Free Graphics |url=http://www.biflag.com/Activism.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010801185547/http://biflag.com/Activism.asp |archive-date=2001-08-01 |access-date=2020-04-20 |publisher=BiFlag.com}}</ref>
{{clear}}

===Double crescent moon===
{{gallery
|align=center
|noborder=yes
|height=
|width=
|File:Double crescent symbol (filled, color).svg|upright=0.7|The double crescent moon bisexuality symbol with [[bisexual flag]] colors, designed by Vivian Wagner
|File:Double crescent symbol (color).svg|Another version of the double crescent moon bisexuality symbol with [[bisexual flag]] colors}}
Some bisexual individuals object to the use of a [[pink triangle]] in the biangles symbol of bisexuality (see above), as it was a symbol that [[Adolf 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/lgbt-symbols|title=Violets, Bi-Angles, And Double Moons: A Guide To LGBTQ+ Symbols|first=Erika W.|last=Smith|website=www.refinery29.com|access-date=2024-04-19|archive-date=2024-09-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907192842/https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/lgbt-symbols|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="2symbol">{{cite web |author=Koymasky, Matt |author2=Koymasky Andrej |date=14 August 2006 |title=Gay Symbols: Other Miscellaneous Symbols |url=http://andrejkoymasky.com/lou/sym/sym05.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110409235810/http://andrejkoymasky.com/lou/sym/sym05.html |archive-date=9 April 2011 |access-date=18 February 2007}}</ref> The colors are variously those of the bisexual or rainbow flags. This symbol is common in [[Germany]] and surrounding countries.<ref name="2symbol" />
{{clear}}

===Asexual and aromantic symbols===
The {{visible anchor|ace ring}}, a black ring worn on the middle finger of one's right hand, is a way [[Asexuality|asexual]] people signify their asexuality. The ring is deliberately worn in a similar manner as one would a [[wedding ring]] to symbolize marriage. Use of the symbol began in 2005.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Chasin|first1=CJ DeLuzio|year=2013|title=Reconsidering Asexuality and Its Radical Potential|url=http://chasin.ca/cj/Chasin_Reconsidering.Asexuality_FS.Vol39.2_2013.pdf|journal=[[Feminist Studies]]|volume=39|issue=2|pages=405–426|issn=0046-3663|access-date=2019-04-17|archive-date=2018-04-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421162847/http://chasin.ca/cj/Chasin_Reconsidering.Asexuality_FS.Vol39.2_2013.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Besanvalle|first1=James|date=31 July 2018|title=Here's a handy way to tell if someone you meet is asexual|url=https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/handy-way-tell-someone-asexual-ace-ring/#gs.gbPp1y3w|access-date=18 February 2019|website=[[Gay Star News]]|archive-date=18 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218141855/https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/handy-way-tell-someone-asexual-ace-ring/#gs.gbPp1y3w|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The {{visible anchor|aro ring}}, a white ring, worn on the middle finger on one's left hand is a way [[aromantic]] people signify their identity on the aromantic spectrum. Use of the symbol began in 2015.<ref>{{cite web|title=Aromantic Ring?!|date=March 29, 2015|url=https://www.asexuality.org/en/topic/116225-aromantic-ring/|access-date=March 11, 2023|archive-date=March 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319210047/https://www.asexuality.org/en/topic/116225-aromantic-ring/|url-status=live}}</ref> This was chosen as the opposite of the ace ring which is a black ring worn on the right hand.<ref>{{cite web|title=All about beautiful ace and aro rings|date=July 30, 2022|url=https://gayagendashtuff.com/all-about-beautiful-ace-and-aro-rings/|access-date=March 11, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022062155/https://gayagendashtuff.com/all-about-beautiful-ace-and-aro-rings/|archive-date=22 October 2023|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Another symbol often used by aromantic people is [[arrow|arrows]] or an arrow as the word arrow is a [[homophone]] to the shortened word aro used by aromantic people to refer to themselves.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.asexuals.net/aromantic-flag-and-symbols-explained/|title=Aromantic flag and symbols explained|date=6 June 2020|access-date=25 March 2023|archive-date=25 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325211817/https://www.asexuals.net/aromantic-flag-and-symbols-explained/|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{gallery
|align=center
|noborder=yes
|height=140
|width=140
|File:Asexual ring.jpg|Ace ring, meant to be worn on the right middle finger.
|File:Aromantic Ring.png|Aro ring, meant to be worn on the left middle finger
|File:Aromantic Arrow Pin.png|A pin depicting an arrow with the [[fletching]] representing the [[Aromantic Pride flag]] colors
}}

==== Ace playing cards representing asexuality ====
[[Ace]] [[playing card]]s, due to the phonetic shortening from asexual to ace, are sometimes used to represent asexuality. The [[ace of hearts]] and [[ace of spades]] are used to symbolize [[romantic orientation|romantic]] asexuality and [[aromanticism|aromantic]] asexuality respectively.<ref name="AceSuits">{{cite book |author1=Julie Sondra Decker |author-link=Julie Sondra Decker |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vTSCDwAAQBAJ&q=ace+of+hearts |title=The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality |date=2015 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=9781510700642 |pages=83 |access-date=21 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310020053/https://books.google.com/books?id=vTSCDwAAQBAJ&q=ace+of+hearts#v=snippet&q=ace%20of%20hearts&f=false |archive-date=10 March 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> Also, the ace of clubs is used to symbolize [[gray asexuality]] and [[demiromanticism|grayromanticism]], and the ace of diamonds is used to symbolize [[demiromanticism]] and [[demisexuality]].<ref name="Pride">{{cite web|date=July 28, 2014|title=Introduction to Asexual Identities & Resource Guide|url=https://www.campuspride.org/resources/introduction-to-asexual-identities-resource-guide/|access-date=2020-10-03|publisher=campuspride.org|archive-date=2020-09-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929151820/https://www.campuspride.org/resources/introduction-to-asexual-identities-resource-guide/|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{gallery
|align=center
|noborder=yes
|height=
|width=
|File:AsexualPlayingCard.jpg|An [[ace of hearts]] with the words “ASEXUAL PRIDE” on it and [[asexual flag]] colors in the background, part of a display for [[International Asexuality Day]] set up in Pennsylvania in 2025.
|File:AsexualAndAromanticPlayingCard.jpg|An [[ace of spades]] with the words “ASEXUAL AND AROMANTIC PRIDE” on it and [[aromantic flag]] colors in the background, part of a display for [[International Asexuality Day]] set up in Pennsylvania in 2025.
|File:GrayAsexualGrayromanticPlayingCard.jpg|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 for [[International Asexuality Day]] set up in Pennsylvania in 2025.
|File:DemisexualAndDemiromanticPlayingCard1.jpg|An ace of diamonds with the words “DEMIROMANTIC AND DEMISEXUAL PRIDE” on it and demisexual flag colors in the background, part of a display for [[International Asexuality Day]] set up in Pennsylvania in 2025.}}

{{clear}}

===Freedom Rings===
[[File:Freedom Rings (cropped).jpg|thumb|Freedom Rings on a keychain]]Freedom Rings, designed by [[David Spada]] in 1991, are six aluminum rings, each in one of the colors of the [[rainbow flag (LGBTQ)|rainbow flag]]. These rings are worn by themselves or as part of necklaces, bracelets, and keychains.<ref name="nytimesrings">{{cite news|last=Van Gelder|first=Lindsy|date=1992-06-21|title=Thing; Freedom Rings|newspaper=New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/21/style/thing-freedom-rings.html|access-date=2010-07-21|archive-date=2013-05-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512205532/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/21/style/thing-freedom-rings.html|url-status=live}}</ref> They are a symbol of gay pride, and were originally sold as a fundraiser for the 1991 [[San Francisco Pride|San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade]] and quickly became a national trend. In June 1992, several of [[MTV]]'s on-air hosts wore Freedom Rings in recognition of [[Pride Month]], elevating their visibility.<ref name="Freedomauto">{{cite news|title=Freedom Rings Make Fashion Statement|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1992/07/17/freedom-rings-make-fashion-statement/|access-date=10 December 2017|work=Orlando Sentinel|date=17 July 1992 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000941/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1992-07-17/lifestyle/9207160717_1_freedom-rings-15-rings-fashion-statement|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Rings Thing|journal=TV Guide|year=1992|volume=40|issue=4 July 1992|page=187|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6kjvAAAAMAAJ|accessdate=11 December 2017|issn=0039-8543|archive-date=7 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907193001/https://books.google.com/books?id=6kjvAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> They are sometimes referred to as "Fruit Loops".<ref name="Cassell's Dictionary of Slang">{{cite book|last=Green|first=Jonathon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=my_ut0maeV4C&pg=PA549|title=Cassell's Dictionary of Slang|date=2006|publisher=Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.|isbn=0-304-36636-6|access-date=2007-11-15|archive-date=2024-09-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907193005/https://books.google.com/books?id=my_ut0maeV4C&pg=PA549#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{clear}}
===Gaysper===
[[File:Gaysper.png|thumb|left|Gaysper]]
{{Main|Gaysper}}
[[Gaysper]] is an LGBTQ symbol based on the [[ghost]] [[emoji]] (U+1F47B, "👻") of [[Android Lollipop|Android 5.0]]. It is a modification of the original icon that uses a background with the colors of the [[Rainbow flag (LGBTQ)|rainbow flag]]. It became popular in Spain from April 2019 following a tweet posted on the official account of the populist far-right party [[Vox (political party)|Vox]], after which a multitude of users belonging to the [[LGBTQ movements|LGBTQ movement]] began to use it as a symbol.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-07-05 |title=Un año de Gaysper |language=es |agency=Shangay |url=https://shangay.com/2020/07/05/gaysper-y-su-familia-convertidos-en-iconos-lgtbi/ |access-date=2021-05-24 |archive-date=2021-05-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524195008/https://shangay.com/2020/07/05/gaysper-y-su-familia-convertidos-en-iconos-lgtbi/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="tweet original">{{Cite web |author=Vox |author-link=Vox (political party) |date=28 April 2019 |title=¡Qué comience la batalla! #PorEspaña (tuit) |url=https://twitter.com/vox_es/status/1122427641750011904 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510094945if_/https://twitter.com/vox_es/status/1122427641750011904 |archive-date=10 May 2019 |access-date=2021-05-24 |website=Twitter |language=es}}</ref> The icon has established itself as an example of the phenomenon of [[reappropriation]] of elements of the anti-LGBTQ discourse in contemporary society through social networks.<ref name="verne">{{Cite news |last=Cantó |first=Pablo |date=2019-04-29 |title=Cómo el 'fantasma LGTB' que asusta a Vox se ha convertido en un icono gay |language=es |agency=El País (Verne) |url=https://verne.elpais.com/verne/2019/04/29/articulo/1556525545_044567.html |access-date=2021-05-24 |archive-date=2021-05-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524195009/https://verne.elpais.com/verne/2019/04/29/articulo/1556525545_044567.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="artículo">{{Cite journal |last1=Bonfill |first1=Anna Zaera |last2=Giménez |first2=Yolanda Tortajada |last3=Gálvez |first3=Antonio Caballero |date=2021-02-03 |title=La reapropiación del insulto como resistencia queer en el universo digital: el caso Gaysper |url=https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/INFE/article/view/69684 |journal=Investigaciones Feministas |language=es |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=103–113 |doi=10.5209/infe.69684 |s2cid=234065914 |issn=2171-6080 |access-date=2021-06-08 |doi-access=free |hdl=10115/34401 |hdl-access=free |archive-date=2024-09-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907193503/https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/INFE/article/view/69684 |url-status=live }}</ref> Other versions derived from the original symbol involving other flags belonging to the LGBTQ community, such as the [[transgender flag]], or the [[bisexual flag]], have also become popular.<ref name="verne"/><ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-04-29 |title=El fantasma Gaysper, de meme antigay de la ultraderecha española a icono LGBT |language=es |website=20minutos.es |url=https://www.20minutos.es/gonzoo/noticia/gaysper-meme-antigay-ultraderecha-icono-lgtb-3627714/0/ |access-date=2021-05-24 |archive-date=2021-05-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524195008/https://www.20minutos.es/gonzoo/noticia/gaysper-meme-antigay-ultraderecha-icono-lgtb-3627714/0/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-07-02 |title=Fluidsper, Transper o Asexsper: los "amigos de Gaysper", el fantasma que Vox lanzó como amenaza al colectivo LGTBI |language=es |agency=La Sexta |url=https://www.lasexta.com/programas/mas-vale-tarde/te-explicamos/fluidsper-transper-o-asexsper-los-amigos-de-gaysper-el-fantasma-que-vox-lanzo-como-una-amenaza-al-mundo-lgtbi-video_201907025d1ba7f80cf2b569b3c097a8.html |access-date=2021-05-24 |archive-date=2021-05-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524195011/https://www.lasexta.com/programas/mas-vale-tarde/te-explicamos/fluidsper-transper-o-asexsper-los-amigos-de-gaysper-el-fantasma-que-vox-lanzo-como-una-amenaza-al-mundo-lgtbi-video_201907025d1ba7f80cf2b569b3c097a8.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{clear}}
[[File:Handkerchief code.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|Two men using the hanky code|alt=Two men wearing colored in the back pockets of their clothes]]
===Handkerchief code===
{{Main|Handkerchief code}}
In the 1970s, the modern handkerchief (or hanky) code emerged in the form of [[Kerchief|bandanas]], worn in back pockets, in colors that signaled sexual interests, fetishes, and if the wearer was a [[Top, bottom and versatile|"top" or "bottom"]].<ref>{{cite magazine|date=May 22, 2018|title=Do You Know the Hanky Code?|url=https://gaydesertguide.com/do-you-know-the-hanky-code/|magazine=Gay Desert Guide|access-date=30 April 2020|archive-date=30 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200430082150/https://gaydesertguide.com/do-you-know-the-hanky-code/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Kacala|first1=Alexander|date=April 25, 2019|title=The Handkerchief Code, According to 'Bob Damron's Address Book' in 1980|url=https://www.thesaintfoundation.org/community/hanky-code-bob-damrons-address-book|access-date=30 April 2020|website=The Saint Foundation|archive-date=4 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191104011132/https://www.thesaintfoundation.org/community/hanky-code-bob-damrons-address-book|url-status=live}}</ref> It was popular among the gay [[Leather subculture|leather community]] of the United States<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Reilly |first1=Andrew |last2=Saethre |first2=Eirik J. |date=2013-10-01 |title=The hankie code revisited: From function to fashion |journal=Critical Studies in Men's Fashion |language=en |volume=1 |pages=69–78 |doi=10.1386/csmf.1.1.69_1}}</ref> and the [[Cruising for sex|cruising scene]] more broadly.


[[File:Non-Binary Dykes Let's High-Five (51321955212).jpg|thumb|left|2021 New York City [[Dyke March]] arrival]]

===High five===
There are many origin stories of the [[high five]],<ref>{{cite web|last1=Brigham|first1=Bob|date=June 17, 2003|title=The Man Who Invented the High-Five|url=http://www.outsports.com/2013/2/26/4034108/the-man-who-invented-the-high-five|access-date=July 25, 2014|website=[[SB Nation]]|archive-date=December 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219003547/http://www.outsports.com/2013/2/26/4034108/the-man-who-invented-the-high-five|url-status=live}}</ref> but the two most documented candidates are [[Dusty Baker]] and [[Glenn Burke]] of the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] professional baseball team on October 2, 1977, and [[Wiley Brown]] and [[Derek Smith (basketball)|Derek Smith]] of the [[Louisville Cardinals men's basketball]] team during the 1978–1979 season.<ref name="mooallem">{{cite web|last=Mooallem|first=Jon|date=May 22, 2020|title=The wild, mysterious history of sports' most enduring gesture: the high five|url=https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/6813042/who-invented-high-five|access-date=April 2, 2021|publisher=ESPN|archive-date=June 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160620084710/http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/6813042/who-invented-high-five|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Garcia|first1=Michelle|date=April 19, 2018|title=The Gay History of the High Five|url=http://www.advocate.com/news/2012/04/19/gay-history-high-five|magazine=[[The Advocate (LGBT magazine)|The Advocate]]|access-date=March 6, 2017|archive-date=May 30, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530040345/https://www.advocate.com/news/2012/04/19/gay-history-high-five|url-status=live}}</ref> After retiring from baseball, Burke, who was one of the first openly gay professional athletes, used the high five with other gay residents of the [[Castro district]] of [[San Francisco]], and it became a symbol of [[LGBTQ pride|gay pride]].<ref name=mooallem/>
===Lesbian manicure===
[[File:Queer manicure example.jpg|thumb|An example of a lesbian manicure (right-handed)]]
{{main|Queer manicure}}
A lesbian manicure (also known as queer manicure, lez nails, or femmicure){{efn|From the [[LGBTQ slang]] terms ''[[queer]]'', ''lez'', and ''[[Femme and butch|femme]]'' respectively.}} is a style or trend of [[manicure]] intended to allow [[lesbian]]s and other queer people in the [[LGBTQ community]] to safely and easily perform [[digital penetration]] during sex. The most distinct and modern form of the manicure entails long [[nail extension]]s on every finger apart from the [[index finger]], [[middle finger]], and sometimes [[thumb]] of the [[dominant hand]], thus preventing injury or discomfort to the [[vulva]] or [[vagina]] 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 the ''femme'' side of the [[Butch and femme|femme-butch spectrum]].<ref name=Dazed>Wallace, Megan. [https://www.dazeddigital.com/beauty/article/57211/1/lez-nails-is-the-queer-woman-with-short-nails-an-outdated-stereotype "Lez nails: Is the 'queer woman with short nails' an outdated stereotype?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240627195950/https://www.dazeddigital.com/beauty/article/57211/1/lez-nails-is-the-queer-woman-with-short-nails-an-outdated-stereotype |date=2024-06-27 }}, ''Dazed'' Beauty, 17 October 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2024.</ref>

===Purple hand===
[[File:Purple hand.jpg|thumb|left|A purple hand symbol created in 2024]]
On October 31, 1969, sixty members of the [[Gay Liberation Front]], the Committee for Homosexual Freedom (CHF), and the Gay Guerilla Theatre group staged a protest outside the offices of the ''[[San Francisco Examiner]]'' in response to a series of news articles disparaging people in San Francisco's [[gay bar]]s and clubs.<ref name="Alwood_1996">{{cite book|last=Alwood|first=Edward|url=https://archive.org/details/straightnewsgays00alwo|title=Straight News: Gays, Lesbians, and the News Media|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|year=1996|isbn=0-231-08436-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/straightnewsgays00alwo/page/94 94]|access-date=January 1, 2008|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>* {{cite book|last1=Teal|first1=Donn|title=The Gay Militants: How Gay Liberation Began in America, 1969-1971|date=1971|publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]]|isbn=0312112793|location=New York|pages=52–58}}
* {{cite magazine|last=Gould|first=Robert E.|date=24 February 1974|title=What We Don't Know About Homosexuality|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0wfHq53yNCYC&pg=PA371|magazine=[[New York Times Magazine]]|isbn=9780231084376|access-date=January 1, 2008|archive-date=17 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117233245/https://books.google.com/books?id=0wfHq53yNCYC&pg=PA371|url-status=live}}
* {{cite news|last1=Laurence|first1=Leo E.|date=October 31 – November 6, 1969|title=Gays Penetrate Examiner|volume=1|page=4|work=[[Berkeley Tribe]]|issue=17|url=https://voices.revealdigital.com/?a=d&d=BFBJFGJ19691031.1.4&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN---------------1|access-date=7 August 2019|archive-date=23 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223093646/https://www.jstor.org/site/reveal-digital/independent-voices/|url-status=live}}</ref> The peaceful protest against the ''Examiner'' turned tumultuous and was later called "Friday of the Purple Hand" and "Bloody Friday of the Purple Hand".<ref name="Alwood_1996" /><ref name="GayPower">{{cite web|date=30 March 2006|title="Gay Power" Politics|url=http://ebar.com/openforum/opforum.php?sec=guest_op&id=41|access-date=January 1, 2008|website=GLBTQ, Inc.|archive-date=10 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710165002/http://ebar.com/openforum/opforum.php?sec=guest_op&id=41|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Van_Buskirk">{{cite news|last1=Van Buskirk|first1=Jim|date=March 20, 2006|title=Gay Media Comes of Age|volume=36|page=13|work=[[Bay Area Reporter]]}}</ref><ref>* {{cite news|last1=Stryker|first1=Susan|last2=Buskirk|first2=Jim Van|date=November 15–30, 1969|title=Friday of the Purple Hand|work=San Francisco Free Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X-s3MQmEQiMC&pg=PA51|access-date=January 1, 2008|isbn=9780811811873|archive-date=September 7, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907193501/https://books.google.com/books?id=X-s3MQmEQiMC&pg=PA51|url-status=live}} (courtesy: the [[GLBT Historical Society|Gay Lesbian Historical Society]].
* {{cite journal|last1=Martin|first1=Del|date=December 1969|title=The Police Beat: Crime in the Streets|url=http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/sfbagals/Vector/1969_Vector_Vol05_No12_Dec.pdf|journal=Vector (San Francisco)|volume=5|issue=12|page=9|access-date=1 June 2019|archive-date=1 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601020916/https://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/sfbagals/Vector/1969_Vector_Vol05_No12_Dec.pdf|url-status=live}}
* {{cite news|last=Bell|first=Arthur|author-link=Arthur Bell (journalist)|date=28 March 1974|title=Has The Gay Movement Gone Establishment?|work=[[The Village Voice]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0wfHq53yNCYC&pg=PA371|access-date=January 1, 2008|isbn=9780231084376|archive-date=17 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117233245/https://books.google.com/books?id=0wfHq53yNCYC&pg=PA371|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Examiner'' employees "dumped a barrel of printers' ink on the crowd from the roof of the newspaper building", according to [[glbtq.com]].<ref name="StrykerSF">{{cite web|last1=Stryker|first1=Susan|date=2004|title=San Francisco|url=http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/san_francisco.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629154453/http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/san_francisco.html|archive-date=June 29, 2015|access-date=July 5, 2015|website=[[glbtq.com]]|page=2}}</ref> Some reports state that it was a barrel of ink poured from the roof of the building.<ref name="Montanarelli">{{cite book|last1=Montanarelli|first1=Lisa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5FqTS3ZCbjgC|title=Strange But True San Francisco: Tales of the City by the Bay|last2=Harrison|first2=Ann|publisher=Globe Pequot|year=2005|isbn=0-7627-3681-X|access-date=January 1, 2008}}{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> 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 the ''[[Bay Area Reporter]]''.<ref name="Alwood_1996" /><ref name="Van_Buskirk" /><ref name="GayPower" /> According to Larry LittleJohn, then president of [[Society for Individual Rights]], "At that point, the tactical squad arrived&nbsp;— 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."<ref name="Alwood_1996" /> The accounts of [[police brutality]] include women being thrown to the ground and protesters' teeth being knocked out.<ref name="Alwood_1996" /><ref name="NewspaperSeries">{{cite news|last1=Alwood|first1=Edward|date=24 April 1974|title=Newspaper Series Surprises Activists|work=[[The Advocate (LGBT magazine)|The Advocate]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0wfHq53yNCYC&pg=PA371|access-date=January 1, 2008|isbn=9780231084376|archive-date=17 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117233245/https://books.google.com/books?id=0wfHq53yNCYC&pg=PA371|url-status=live}}</ref> Inspired by [[Black Hand (extortion)|Black Hand]] extortion methods of [[Camorra]] [[gangster]]s and [[Sicilian Mafia|the Mafia]],<ref name="Nash">{{cite book|last1=Nash|first1=Jay Robert|title=World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime|date=1993|publisher=[[Da Capo Press]]|isbn=0-306-80535-9}}</ref> some gay and lesbian activists attempted to institute "purple hand" as a symbol against anti-gay attacks, but the symbol was only briefly used.<ref>{{Citation |last=Hobson |first=Emily K. |title=Beyond the Gay Ghetto |date=2016-11-01 |url=https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520279056.003.0002 |work=Lavender and Red |access-date=2024-01-15 |publisher=University of California Press |doi=10.1525/california/9780520279056.003.0002 |isbn=978-0-520-27905-6 |archive-date=2024-09-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907193351/https://academic.oup.com/california-scholarship-online/book/13979/chapter-abstract/167730409?redirectedFrom=fulltext |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kepner |first=Jim |url=https://archive.org/details/AlternateNovember1977/page/n35/mode/2up |title=Alternate |date=1977 |pages=36 |language=en |quote=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.}}</ref> In Turkey, the LGBTQ rights organization {{lang|de|MorEl [[Eskişehir]] LGBTT Oluşumu|italic=no}} (Purple Hand Eskişehir LGBT Formation) bears the name of this symbol.<ref>{{cite web|title=MorEl Eskişehir LGBTT Oluşumu|url=http://moreleskisehir.blogspot.com/|access-date=January 23, 2012|website=Moreleskisehir.blogspot.com|archive-date=January 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128203926/http://moreleskisehir.blogspot.com/|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{clear}}
===Star tattoo===
[[File:Nautical star.jpg|thumb|[[Nautical star]] wrist tattoo]]
In the 1950s, some lesbians in [[Buffalo, New York]] wore a blue five-pointed star tattoo on the wrist, a location that could be covered by a watch.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=Elizabeth Lapovsky |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0T8F0daflZ4C |title=Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold: The History of a Lesbian Community |last2=Davis |first2=Madeline D. |publisher=Psychology Press |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-415-90293-9 |pages=189 |language=en}}</ref> People getting tattoos to reflect this history may choose a [[nautical star|nautical-style star]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Keena |date=2012-06-21 |others=no further sources cited |title=I Saw The Sign: LGBT Symbols Then And Now |url=https://www.autostraddle.com/i-saw-the-sign-lgbt-symbols-then-and-now-140061/ |access-date=2022-06-01 |website=Autostraddle |language=en-US}}</ref>

===White knot===
[[Image:Hi-res-whiteknot.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.6|A white knot]]
The white knot is a symbol of support for [[same-sex marriage]] in the United States. The white knot combines two symbols of marriage, the color white and "[[marriage|tying the knot]]," to represent support for [[same-sex marriage]].<ref name="latimesBlogs">{{cite web|date=26 February 2009|title=Lapel watch: White ribbon for equality? Knot, really|url=https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/alltherage/2009/02/lapel-watch-whi.html|publisher=latimesblogs.latimes.com|accessdate=25 May 2019|archive-date=6 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306111637/https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/alltherage/2009/02/lapel-watch-whi.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The white knot has been worn publicly by many celebrities as a means of demonstrating solidarity with that cause.<ref>* {{cite web|author=Jere Hester|date=16 July 2009|title=White Knot? Why Not?|url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/archive/White-Knot-Why-Not.html|publisher=nbcnewyork.com|accessdate=25 May 2019|archive-date=25 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525060857/https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/archive/White-Knot-Why-Not.html|url-status=live}}
* {{cite web|author=Brooks Barnes|date=26 November 2008|title=Another Cause, Another Ribbon|url=https://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/another-cause-another-ribbon/?scp=1&sq=whiteknot.org&st=cse%20Another%20Cause,%20Another%20Ribbon%20%E2%80%93%20NYTimes.com|publisher=thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com|accessdate=31 May 2019|archive-date=29 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029080059/https://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/another-cause-another-ribbon/?scp=1&sq=whiteknot.org&st=cse%20Another%20Cause%2C%20Another%20Ribbon%20%E2%80%93%20NYTimes.com|url-status=live}}
* {{cite web|author=Marc Malkin|date=7 February 2009|title=Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl: White Knot for Gay Marriage|url=http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/marc_malkin/b98982_foo_fighters_dave_grohl_white_knot_gay.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209072118/http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/marc_malkin/b98982_foo_fighters_dave_grohl_white_knot_gay.html|archive-date=9 February 2009|publisher=EOnline|accessdate=31 May 2019}}
* {{cite web|author=Nikki Finke|date=24 February 2009|title=White Knot Oscars And Spirit Awards Lists|url=https://deadline.com/2009/02/white-knot-oscars-and-spirit-awards-lists-8587/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205140819/https://deadline.com/2009/02/white-knot-oscars-and-spirit-awards-lists-8587/|archive-date=5 December 2018|publisher=Deadline|accessdate=6 June 2019}}
* {{cite web|author=Adam Markovitz|date=10 February 2009|title=Oscar fashion preview: White knots on the red carpet?|url=http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/02/oscar-fashion-p.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090222121106/http://popwatch.ew.com:80/popwatch/2009/02/oscar-fashion-p.html|archive-date=22 February 2009|publisher=popwatch.ew.com|accessdate=6 June 2019}}
* {{cite web|author=Rhiza Dizon|date=20 February 2009|title=Expect White Knots on Oscar's Red Carpet|url=http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid73415.asp|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090315030951/http://www.advocate.com:80/news_detail_ektid73415.asp|archive-date=15 March 2009|publisher=Advocate|accessdate=6 June 2019}}
* {{cite web|author=Andy Towle|date=19 November 2008|title=Is the White Knot the New Red Ribbon?|url=http://www.towleroad.com/2008/11/is-the-white-kn/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306235246/http://www.towleroad.com/2008/11/is-the-white-kn/|archive-date=6 March 2019|publisher=Towleroad|accessdate=6 June 2019}}</ref>

The white knot was created by Frank Voci in November 2008, in response to the passage of [[2008 California Proposition 8|Proposition 8]] in California and bans on same-sex marriage and denial of other [[civil rights]] for [[LGBTQ]] persons across the nation.<ref>{{cite web|title=About White Knot|url=http://www.whiteknot.org/about.html|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130811192814/http://www.whiteknot.org/about.html|archive-date=11 August 2013|publisher=WhiteKnot|accessdate=6 June 2019}}</ref>
{{clear}}

== Flags ==
[[File:Gay Pride Flag.svg|thumb|upright|Created in 1978, the [[Rainbow flag (LGBTQ)|rainbow flag]] is the most commonly used pride flag.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rainbow Flag: Origin Story |url=https://gilbertbaker.com/rainbow-flag-origin-story/ |website=[[Gilbert Baker Foundation]] |date=2018 |access-date=27 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618200034/https://gilbertbaker.com/rainbow-flag-origin-story/ |archive-date=June 18, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Segerblom>{{cite news |last1=Segerblom |first1=Lynn |title=The woman behind the Rainbow Flag |url=https://www.losangelesblade.com/2018/03/02/woman-behind-rainbow-flag/ |work=Los Angeles Blade |date=March 2, 2018 |access-date=27 September 2021 |archive-date=10 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220610042007/https://www.losangelesblade.com/2018/03/02/woman-behind-rainbow-flag/ |url-status=live }}</ref>]]{{Excerpt|Pride flag|only=paragraph|paragraphs=1-3}}
{{clear}}
==Gallery==
===Symbols===
<!--BEFORE ADDING A SYMBOL: If a symbol is not explained and sourced in the article, the file in gallery must include a reliable source.-->
<!--Wikipedia is not a publisher of original ideas and personal inventions. See [[WP:FORUM]].-->
<!--All content must be supported with reliable sources: see [[WP:RELIABLE]]. Also see: [[WP:NOT]] + [[WP:ONEDAY]].-->
<!--Medium, Tumblr, and Reddit blogs are not acceptable as sources: see [[WP:RSSELF]] + [[WP:USERG]].-->

<gallery>
File:Bi triangles.svg|[[Biangles]]<br />(represents bisexuality)
File:Double crescent symbol (filled, color).svg|[[Bisexuality#Symbols|Double moon]]<br />(represents bisexuality)<ref name="symbol">{{cite web |url=http://andrejkoymasky.com/lou/sym/sym05.html |title=Gay Symbols: Other Miscellaneous Symbols |access-date=18 February 2007 |author=Koymasky, Matt |author2=Koymasky Andrej |date=14 August 2006 |archive-date=9 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110409235810/http://andrejkoymasky.com/lou/sym/sym05.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
File:Double Venus symbol (bold).svg|[[Gender symbol|Double female symbol]]<br />(represents lesbian women)<ref name="Zimmerman-symbols">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofle00bzim/page/748 |title=Lesbian Histories and Cultures: An Encyclopedia |date=2000 |publisher=[[Garland Publishing]] |isbn=0-8153-1920-7 |editor1-last=Zimmerman |editor1-first=Bonnie |editor1-link=Bonnie Zimmerman |edition=1st |volume=1 (Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures) |page=748 |chapter=Symbols (by Christy Stevens) |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofle00bzim/page/748 |url-access=registration}}</ref>
File:Double Mars symbol (bold).svg|[[Gender symbol|Double male symbol]]<br />(represents gay men)
File:Alternative-sexuality symbol (bold, color).svg|Interlocking [[Gender symbol|gender symbols]]
File:Whitehead-link-alternative-sexuality-symbol.svg|Interlocking gender symbols<br />
Bisexuality symbol (bold, color).svg|Four interlocking gender symbols
File:Labrys-symbol.svg|[[Labrys#Social movement|Labrys]]<br />(represents lesbian feminism)<ref name=Zimmerman-symbols /><ref name=Pea>{{cite web|last1=Pea|first1=Georgie|title=LABRYS Tool of Lesbian Feminism|url=http://findinglesbians.blogspot.com/2013/08/labrys-tool-of-lesbian-feminism.html|website=Finding Lesbians|date=9 August 2013|access-date=4 August 2018|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112023141/http://findinglesbians.blogspot.com/2013/08/labrys-tool-of-lesbian-feminism.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Myers-205>{{cite book|last1=Myers |first1=JoAnne |title=Historical Dictionary of the Lesbian Liberation Movement: Still the Rage |year=2003 |edition=1st |page=156 |publisher=[[The Scarecrow Press]] |location=Lanham, Maryland |lccn=2002156624 |isbn=978-0810845060 |url=https://archive.org/details/tozlesbianlibera00myer/page/156/mode/2up |url-access=limited}}</ref>
File:Lambda-letter-lowercase-symbol-Garamond.svg|[[Lambda#Lower-case letter λ|Lambda]]<br />(represents gay liberation)
File:Pansexual symbol (bold).svg|Pansexual symbol<ref>{{cite web|last1=Oliva|first1=Gabriela|date=2020-09-10|title=Pansexualidade: entenda o que é essa orientação sexual|url=https://oglobo.globo.com/celina/pansexualidade-entenda-que-essa-orientacao-sexual-24622044|access-date=2022-12-27|website=O Globo|language=pt-BR|archive-date=2022-12-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221227011047/https://oglobo.globo.com/celina/pansexualidade-entenda-que-essa-orientacao-sexual-24622044|url-status=live}}</ref>
File:Transgender symbol black and white.svg|[[Androgyne]] + male + female symbol, the most common [[transgender]] symbol
Gender sign (bold, pink and blue).svg|Pink and blue transgender
File:Trans woman power symbol.svg|[[Transfeminism|Transfeminist symbol]]
Bi triskelion (white).svg|Triskelion
Chamaeleon symbol (dark pink and blue).svg|Pink and blue chameleon (genderfluid)
File:Gender neutral bathroom sign.png|Androgyne + male + female symbol identifying unisex / inclusive restroom
File:Separate toilets for three genders.jpg|Male, female and [[hijra (South Asia)|hijra]] [[public toilet]]s in India
</gallery>

===Simple icons===
<!--BEFORE ADDING A SYMBOL: If a symbol is not explained and sourced in the article, the file in gallery must include a reliable source.-->
<!--Wikipedia is not a publisher of original ideas and personal inventions. See [[WP:FORUM]].-->
<!--All content must be supported with reliable sources: see [[WP:RELIABLE]]. Also see: [[WP:NOT]] + [[WP:ONEDAY]].-->
<!--Medium, Tumblr, and Reddit blogs are not acceptable as sources: see [[WP:RSSELF]] + [[WP:USERG]].-->

<gallery class="skin-invert-image">
Agender symbol.svg|[[Asexuality]];<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sexualdiversity.org/edu/symbols/emoji/1065.php |title=Unicode Asexuality Character |date=6 November 2022 |website=Sexual Diversity |access-date=12 May 2024 |archive-date=23 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923173902/https://www.sexualdiversity.org/edu/symbols/emoji/1065.php |url-status=live |last1=Diversity |first1=Sexual }}</ref> [[Agender]], [[non-binary]]<br>(a larger circle in genealogies means 'female')<ref name=McElroy>{{cite book |last1=McElroy |first1=D.R. |title=Signs & Symbols of the World: Over 1,001 Visual Signs Explained |date=2020 |page=198 |publisher=Wellfleet Press |location=New York, New York |isbn=978-1577151869}}</ref>
Androgyny symbol (up arrow).svg|[[Androgyne]] (no particular appearance), [[gender-queer]], gender-neutral<ref name=McElroy/>
Androgyny symbol (down arrow).svg|sometimes distinguished:<br>androgyne (female appearance)<ref name=McElroy/>
Androgyny symbol (fixed width).svg|sometimes distinguished:<br>androgyne (male appearance)<ref name=McElroy/>
Asexual symbol (fixed width).svg|Asexual<ref name=McElroy/><ref name=LGBQN/>
Male and female sign.svg|[[Bigender]] (also androgyne, agender, etc.); in botany: [[perfect flower|bisexual / hermaphroditic]]<ref name=McElroy/>
Bisexuality symbol.svg|[[Bisexual]]<ref>Nixon & Düsterhöft (2017) ''Sex in the Digital Age'', p. 150</ref>
Female bisexuality symbol.svg|Bisexual (female)
Male bisexuality symbol.svg|Bisexual (male)
Alternative-sexuality symbol.svg|Bisexual (Whitehead link)<ref>See [[:File:Pride in London 2016 - Bisexual people in the parade.png]]</ref>
Demi-boy symbol.svg|[[Demi-boy]]<ref name=McElroy/>
Demi-girl symbol.svg|[[Demi-girl]]<ref name=McElroy/>
Double crescent symbol.svg|double crescent
Double Mars symbol.svg|Gay (male) union<ref name=McElroy/>
Mercury symbol (fixed width).svg|[[Intersex]];<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/7275666/mercury_hermaphrodite_intersex_gender_sex_gender_identity_sexuality_icon |title=Mercury, hermaphrodite, intersex, gender, sex, gender identity, sexuality icon |last=Eigtved |first=Martin LeBlanc |website=Iconfinder |access-date=2024-05-12 |archive-date=2024-09-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907193350/https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/7275666/mercury_hermaphrodite_intersex_gender_sex_gender_identity_sexuality_icon |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Gender-fluid]] (symbol of fluid [[Quicksilver (metal)|quicksilver]]); non-binary<ref name=McElroy/>
Mercury with arrow symbol (fixed width).svg|Androgyne male<ref name=McElroy/>
Heterosexuality symbol.svg|Heterosexual union<ref name=McElroy/>
Inter-gender symbol.svg|Intergender<ref name=McElroy/>
Double Venus symbol.svg|Lesbian union<ref name=McElroy/>
Neuter symbol.svg|Neuter ([[Asexuality|asexual]], neutral, [[neutrois]]); botany: [[asexual reproduction]]; zoology: non-reproducing (e.g. worker bees)<ref name=McElroy/>
Non-binary symbol (fixed width).svg|Non-binary<ref name=McElroy/>
Asteroid symbol (fixed width).svg|Non-binary (glyph variant)<ref name=McElroy/><ref name=LGBQN>LGBQ Nation, [https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/07/all-about-the-nonbinary-symbol/ All about the nonbinary symbol] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240418062235/https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/07/all-about-the-nonbinary-symbol/ |date=2024-04-18 }}</ref>
Comet symbol (fixed width).svg|Non-binary (comet, contrasting with Venus for female and Mars for male)<ref name=McElroy/>
Oberon symbol (fixed width).svg|Other/undefined gender (transgender, non-binary, gender-fluid)<ref name=McElroy/>
Pansexual symbol (fixed width).svg|Pansexual
Rotated Mercury (fixed width).svg|Rotating / fluctuating gender expression<ref name=McElroy/>
Gender sign.svg|[[Transgender]], [[transsexual]], gender-queer;<ref name=McElroy/> gender inclusive (male, female and androgyne / transgender)<ref>Winfield (2019) ''Gender Identity: The Ultimate Teen Guide'', p. 59</ref>
</gallery>

=== Flags ===
{{Excerpt|Pride flag|Gallery|subsections=yes}}

==Encoding==
{{Contains special characters|section=table}}
{{for|information on entering these symbols in a document|Unicode input}}
{{hatnote|The meanings given here are those formally associated with the symbol in Unicode. They may be used with other meanings elsewhere. See also [[Gender symbols#Encoding]].}}

<!-- EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: this is the list of symbols found in Unicode -->
{| class="wikitable sortable skin-invert-image" 
! Unicode name<ref name=Unicode2600 /> || colspan=2|symbol || hex ||dec|| Associated wording<ref name=Unicode2600>{{cite web | title = Miscellaneous Symbols {{!}} Gender symbols | url = https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2600.pdf | access-date = 2020-06-28 | publisher = [[Unicode Consortium]] | archive-date = 2001-06-03 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20010603010228/http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2600.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref><!-- Please leave this as pointing to the PDF version because the HTML version does not provide the recognised associations -->
|-
| {{small|{{uc:Mercury}}}} || [[file:Mercury symbol (fixed width).svg|frameless|upright=0.15]] || style="font-size: 200%;" | ☿ || U+263F || &amp;#9791; || Intersexuality.
|-
| {{small|{{uc:Doubled female sign}}}} || [[file:Double Venus symbol.svg|frameless|upright=0.15]] || style="font-size: 200%;" | ⚢ || U+26A2 || &amp;#9890; || Female homosexuality.
|-
| {{small|{{uc:Doubled male sign}}}} || [[file:Double Mars symbol.svg|frameless|upright=0.15]] || style="font-size: 200%;" | ⚣ || U+26A3 || &amp;#9891; || Male homosexuality.
|-
| {{small|{{uc:Interlocked male and female sign}}}} || [[file:Heterosexuality symbol.svg|frameless|upright=0.15]] || style="font-size: 200%;" | ⚤ || U+26A4 || &amp;#9892; || Heterosexuality.
|-
| {{small|{{uc:Male and female sign}}}} || [[file:Male and female sign.svg|frameless|upright=0.15]] || style="font-size: 200%;" | ⚥ || U+26A5 || &amp;#9893; ||Intersex, androgynous.<br>Hermaphroditic (in botany).
|-
| {{small|{{uc:Male with stroke sign}}}} || [[file:Androgyny symbol (fixed width).svg|frameless|upright=0.15]] || style="font-size: 200%;" | ⚦ || U+26A6 || &amp;#9894; || Transgender.
|-
| {{small|{{uc:Male with stroke and male and female sign}}}} || [[file:Gender sign.svg|frameless|upright=0.15]] || style="font-size: 200%;" | ⚧ || U+26A7 || &amp;#9895; || Transgender.
|-
| {{small|{{uc:Neuter}}}} || [[file:Neuter symbol.svg|frameless|upright=0.15]] || style="font-size: 200%;" | ⚲ || U+26B2 || &amp;#9906; || (subheading as a gender symbol)
|-
| {{small|{{uc:Medium white circle}}}} || [[file:Agender symbol.svg|frameless|upright=0.15]] || style="font-size: 200%;" | {{Emoji presentation|⚪|text}} || U+26AA || &amp;#9898; || [[Asexuality]], sexless, genderless.<br>Base for male or female sign.{{efn|Also used as synonym of U+26AC {{small|{{uc:Medium small white circle}}}} (⚬) Engaged, betrothed (genealogy), wedding ring. Cf. also U+25CB {{small|{{uc:White circle}}}} (○), female in genealogies and pedigrees.}}
|}

Many of these symbols have unrelated meanings in other fields, notably as [[alchemical symbol]]s and [[planetary symbol]]s.

==See also==
{{Portal|LGBTQ|Heraldry and vexillology}}
* [[LGBTQ slang]]
* [[LGBTQ slogans]]
* [[Pride flag]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|LGBT symbols}}
* [https://www.odu.edu/oir/lgbt/queer101 LGBTQIA+ Glossary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218142115/https://www.odu.edu/oir/lgbt/queer101 |date=2021-12-18 }} at [[Old Dominion University]]

{{LGBTQ|culture}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:LGBT Symbols}}
[[Category:LGBTQ symbols| ]]
[[Category:Human gender and sexuality symbols]]
[[Category:Lists of symbols|LGBT]]