You’ve likely heard of the hanky code, the form of flagging popularized by gay men in the 1970s and 80s. But, let’s rewind for a quick second, what even is flagging? Flagging is the LGBTQ+ practice of signalling one’s sexual availability and proclivities through how you dress. LGBTQ flagging has a long and varied history, and it continues to evolve. In this article, we’ll give you a brief history of the hanky code and get into how it has evolved, especially when it comes to the lesbian community and lesbian flagging. We’ll say this up top, but flagging is not a workaround for consent, it can just be used as a shorthand for things you like.
A brief history of the hanky code
The history of the hanky code, like a lot of queer history, has not been completely codified. There are some murky, disputed details, but one common theory is that hanky flagging may have started during the Gold Rush in San Francisco back in the 19th century. Men went west on their own (leaving behind wives and kids)…and gay relationships were quite common. As this theory goes, at square dances, men who wanted to lead would wear blue bandanas, while those willing to follow wore red ones.
It was in the early 1970s that the modern hanky code took off in the gay male community – possibly thanks to The Village Voice newspaper in New York City, or maybe in San Francisco. Some even say that it was because a local S&M shop (in San Francisco) got a double order of bandanas and popularized the hanky code as a marketing ploy. Either way, the hanky code became an integral part of gay cruising culture.
All the colors of the rainbow
The hanky flagging system involves an intricate color and position code when it comes to bandanas: the color you wear and where it’s placed flag or signal certain sexual interests. It’s hard to find a single definite guide that breaks down all the intricacies, but we will highlight some basics here.
Where you place the hanky
Putting the hanky in the right back pocket means you are down to receive (or bottom) the designated sex act, while putting it in your left back pocket means you would give (or top). Wearing it around your neck signifies that you are into switching, i.e., giving or receiving.
Decoded some of the hanky flagging color code
Black hankies generally signal being into S&M, while grey can be used to flag a latex fetish. Red can signal an interest in fisting and bright yellow can signal a proclivity for piss play. Fuschia flags spanking while light pink flags dildo play. That’s just a sampling. There are so many different practices to flag…and there’s a color for almost every sexual act that you can imagine.
Flagging for queer women
When it comes to modern lesbian flagging, femme flagging, or flagging for queer women, some of the rules of the hanky code still apply. In the 1980s, Pat Califia and Gayle Rubin adapted the hanky code for women in the famous lesbian magazine On Our Backs. Today, there are also other sartorial symbols of lesbian interests – some of which are less sexually specific, but used by queer people to flag their queerness.
Nails and nail polish
Lesbians and queer women have long used their hands to signal their interest and availability to other women. The “femme-icure” indicates a manicure with long nails except for the middle and pointer finger, leaving those available for sex. That said, for some queer women, leaving all their nails long can flag something else, a certain kind of femininity. In the early 2010s, the “femme-icure” was updated, combining manicures with the color codes of queer flagging. This type of “femme-flagging,” or “finger-flagging,” involved painting one or two nails in a certain color to signify certain sexual interests. This was mostly short-lived, especially as straight women jumped on the trend of having differently colored nails.
Keychains and carabiners
Much like the hanky code, the carabiner code is a form of flagging often used by lesbians in the LGBTQ+ community to indicate sexual preferences. Like with the hanky code, wearing a carabiner on your left generally means you’re a top, and on the right means you’re a bottom. The carabiner code likely has its roots in WWII, when women started taking over “men’s” jobs. Butches and masc women began to take on blue collar jobs and carabiners became a part of their wardrobe. A carabiner doesn’t always indicate a queer woman, and even among queer women, it may not flag anything specific other than queerness.
Plaid shirts and other symbols of lesbian culture
Maybe not an official part of the queer flagging system, a woman wearing a checked flannel shirt may be flagging her queerness. Other sartorial symbols of lesbian leanings include Doc Martens, thumb rings, chains, and snapbacks. Beware, many straight people wear plaid shirts, too, or Docs. So they are by no means definitive signifiers of queerness or sure signs of flagging lesbian.
Some final things to flag about lgbtq flagging
We hope you’ve learned a thing or two about the history and herstory of hanky flagging and queer flagging more broadly. In the queer community, systems of flagging emerged as ways to communicate and find one another out there in the wild. Whether via the hanky code or the carabiner code, whether through a “femme-icure” or just a pair of Doc Martens, queer folks all over the world use specific sartorial symbols to signal their identity and proclivities.
That said, and especially in the broader queer community, the use of these symbols doesn’t always indicate a specific sexual preference. For those flagging lesbian, you may still need to have a conversation about the kind of sex you want to have, whether you’re a top or a bottom, and whether you want to use a strap on or double dildo, for instance.
Over time, queer people have created their own symbols and codes. In this way, flagging is its own kind of language and it continues to evolve, reflecting the changing diversity and needs of the community.
