vexgaycrimes

[vexgaycrimes]

multi-national corps make big bucks selling merchandise with the orange&pink lesbian flag on it but the person who made it is currently HOMELESS.

emily gwen needs money. give them money. stop giving disney and faceless businesses who sell cheap, imported, low-quality crap produced with probably child or slave labour. give your money to emily gwen.

[vexgaycrimes]

Why does this blog exist

In truly a very autistic moment of my life, there was a time where I was strongly invested in all things heraldry. Of course, this later transitioned into vexillology. I am now not as invested as I was, but I forever will be full of heraldic and vexillologic thoughts because of that.

This meant that when it came time to question my own gender and identity, I couldn't help but be disappointed at some of the queer flags that are out there (I'm a demiboy but I find the demiboy flag incredibly underwhelming, for example). So naturally, my autism compels me to try to realize "better" versions of these flags. These aren't intended as actual replacements, they're mostly to satisfy my graphical needs, although some flags do desperately need it (everybody and their mum has tried to come up with a poly flag alternative for a reason).

So in this post I will be describing the guidelines I will follow and try to respect when coming up with redesigns. And I will also be using these to comment on flags that I consider are good and do not need them.

For me (and many other vexillologist), a good flag is one that follows these hard rules:

It is a simple design, easy to draw from memory, even for a kid (no complex shapes or complex coloring, like gradients)

Distinct at a distance, and/or waving in the wind (no intricate details)

As few colors as possible (makes printing easy, and helps with the previous point)

Another soft rule I like to throw into the mix, even though some flag design enjoyers will get mad at me for, is the rule of tincture, from heraldry. It's not a must follow, and it's not an enforced flag rule (after all, this existed partly because there were very few colors available for heraldic shields, and flag printing doesn't have that physical restriction anymore), but many flags do descend from heraldic shields, so many flags inherently follow those rules, and so I think it's nice to have when possible.

There's yet another guideline I would like to respect when coming up with alternatives, and this is something unique to LGBT flags:

Now, one thing that can't be overlooked is the iconicity of the rainbow flag. It's a flag that has way too many colors for a flag (and the original version had even more), but I think it works because the rainbow is just something that everyone is familiar with; and because of the very nature of the rainbow, the colors lead gently into one another, avoiding ugly clashes. Good job!

This same iconicity has led people to associate horizontal stripes of colors with queerness, and so many flags that have been proposed after it, have also followed the template of "many colored horizontal stripes"; but since those aren't "The Rainbow" anymore, I think it works against the flag and detracts from the simplicity and distinctness points. Many of these alternatives also only have like 2 or 3 actually distinct colors, with intermediate tones between them, like a pseudo-gradient. (The only other queer flag design "innovation" has been the side triangle, for when stripes are not enough, or when, understandably, someone tries to make a flag that isn't just yet another striped flag.)

Personally, my cutoff for how many stripes is too many is at 5. If you have more than that, there's a high chance that the flag could be simplified without losing distinctness.

I also think we've reached a point where there's enough identities that just doing horizontal stripes for everyone is not enough to keep them distinct, and that it can't hurt to take a page or 2 out of the design book for more traditional flags.

However, having a consistent graphic language across flags isn't inherently a bad thing. Many existing country flags do share visual elements with surrounding countries because of the shared history and cultural elements represented by these common visual elements. So I won't go against the common "horizontal stripes" pattern just for the sake of hating on the pattern unless necessary, because I do find some merit in it. I just think we can do more.

I will tag all my posts with my URL so if you find this kind of posts annoying (which is understandable), feel free to mute. I will also be posting these in my cohost page of the same name, since Tumblr seems hellbent on killing their own social network just like everyone else is doing

#vexgaycrimes #vexillology #gay #lgbtqia #heraldry #queer #graphic design