Apagender Pride Flag (2014, pridearchive)

Overview

To provide a visible symbol for apagender identity and related terms (inersgender, anvisgender, gender apathetic).

The flag was published on the Tumblr blog pridearchive in a post titled "Inersgender Pride", timestamped Tuesday 15 July 2014 at 9:29 PM local time. The post defines the identity, explains the two prefixes, gives a meaning for each of the four stripes, and credits the term, the flag and the accessory graphics to different people. ^[2] Apagender describes being apathetic toward one's own gender, to the point of not caring what gender one is or whether one has a gender at all. The surviving description, preserved in the DeviantArt copy of the flag, presents three names for the identity as synonyms: "Anvisgender, Apagender, or Inersgender: Used to describe those who are too lazy/apathetic to care about their gender." It explains the prefixes: Inersgender "comes from the Latin word 'iners' meaning 'lazy' and because that has negative connotations, anvisgender is a nice alternative", built on the Latin "vis", energy, "with the an- prefix to negate it". The description calls the identity "Similar to Cassgender", and carries a correction: "I previously had Lethargender as a synonym for this, but this is incorrect because it's a different definition." ^[1]

Identity & Context

Represented Identity

apagender

Primarily circulated in online Tumblr and DeviantArt communities.

Creators

The Creator

Attribution notes

The flag is credited in the original post with the single line "Pride Flag Credit to me", the poster being the Tumblr blog pridearchive, which describes itself as "A sideblog dedicated to archiving and putting together all pride flag related stuff in an organised manner" and names its operator: "You can call the mod Lyric and use they/them pronouns for them." The same post credits the term to other people, "Term Coinage Credit to stellette and stelllarts", and the accompanying button, scarf and banner to enbydemon. Coining the term, designing the flag and making the graphics were three separate contributions by four or more people. ^[2]

Origin

Place Type

online

Digital Origin

Yes

Digital origin only. No geographic location is associated with this flag's creation.

Originated on Tumblr (pridearchive blog). No geographic origin beyond the online platform is documented.

Dates & Chronology

Year Created

2014

Exact date

July 16, 2014

Reported original publication

July 16, 2014

Documented online circulation

2014 to the present

Creation Bounds

16 July 2014 is the date of the original pridearchive Tumblr post, taken from the post's own timestamp of Tuesday 15 July 2014 at 9:29 PM local time, which falls on 16 July in UTC. ^[2] The blog has since been deleted and the post cannot be read live; its address survives inside the DeviantArt copy's description. ^[1] The earliest surviving readable source is that copy, published 27 August 2015 at 20:47 local time, 28 August in UTC. ^[1] No physical or organisational use has been located.

The 2014 pridearchive version remains the most commonly referenced apagender flag. An alternate flag with different colors entirely was created in 2020, but the 2014 original appears to retain broader recognition in wiki documentation. ^[1] The original posting cannot be read: the pridearchive blog has been deleted, and the post's address, preserved in the DeviantArt copy, returns nothing. The DeviantArt copy of 28 August 2015 is the earliest surviving text. ^[1][2]

Major revisions

1. 2014-07-16

   Original flag created by pridearchive on Tumblr.

An alternate flag with different colors was created in 2020, but the 2014 original by pridearchive remains the more commonly referenced version in community documentation.

Lineage

No flag lineage is documented. The design is four horizontal bands, which is not by itself evidence of derivation from any particular flag, and no source states what it was built from.

Colors & Symbolism

The flag uses muted, low-energy colors to reflect the defining characteristic of apagender identity: apathy toward gender. The subdued palette contrasts with the vibrant colors of most pride flags, visually reflecting an identity defined by indifference rather than active identification.

This flag has no official digital palette. Color values shown are approximate.

The four meanings are quoted as the surviving description gives them, single words and phrases. ^[1]

Values measured from the surviving Pride-Flags file, which carries exactly four flat colours across the whole image with no antialiasing, in four equal bands of 750 pixels. They are measurements of the copy that survives, not values published by the creator; the original post is deleted and its file cannot be compared. ^[1]

Design

Aspect Ratio

3:5 · measured from the surviving source file

Orientation

horizontal

Stripe Count

4

Layout

horizontal_stripes

Stripes (Top → Bottom)

Brown, Light Blue, White, Dark Grey

Asymmetrical four-stripe design (not mirrored).

Four horizontal bands of equal width, top to bottom: brown, light blue, white, dark grey. No emblem or overlay. No official proportion has been documented.

A horizontal flag with four equal stripes from top to bottom: brown, light blue, white, and dark grey.

Usage & Adoption

Online Usage

Tumblr pride-flag community, DeviantArt pride-flag community, LGBTQIA+ community wikis

Current Status

niche

Documented circulation runs through Tumblr and DeviantArt pride-flag communities and later community wikis, where the 2014 design remains the version those sources carry. No physical or organisational use has been located in the sources used for this entry. ^{[1] [2]}

Image Archive

Earliest surviving copy

Discourse & Debates

• The distinction between apagender, apogender, and cassgender is a subject of ongoing discussion. Apagender describes apathy toward one's own gender. Apogender describes feeling entirely removed from the concept of gender. Cassgender describes indifference to gender rather than apathy, a subtle but meaningful distinction for those who identify with these terms. ^[1]

Common misidentifications

• May be confused with apogender (feeling entirely removed from gender) due to the similar names and overlapping conceptual territory.
• Apagender and apogender are frequently confused due to their similar names. Apagender emphasizes apathy (not caring about gender), while apogender emphasizes complete removal from gender as a concept.
• Cassgender (indifference to gender) is a related but distinct concept.

Criticisms

• A commenter in the post's own notes objected to the premise: "hello yes this is contradicting because if you're 'too lazy' to give yourself a gender then why is there a whole gender dedicated to it?" ^[2]

The original post is titled "Inersgender Pride" and uses only inersgender and anvisgender; apagender does not appear in it. The three names are grouped as synonyms in the later DeviantArt copy. The post explains both prefixes: iners is Latin for lazy, and "because that has negative connotations, anvisgender is a nice alternative for individuals to use", built on Latin vis, energy, negated by an-. ^{[2] [1]}

Footnotes & Citations

Image Sources

Rendering

Earliest surviving copy (Pride-Flags, 2015)

• Credit: Pride-Flags (DeviantArt), earliest surviving copyRights Rights in the underlying design are not established; no licence was published by the creator. This file is the Pride-Flags copy, posted under DeviantArt's terms.
• The earliest surviving copy: the Pride-Flags file of 28 August 2015, 5000 by 3000 pixels, carrying four flat colours and no antialiasing. The original 2014 pridearchive post is deleted and its file has not been recovered. ^[1] · Credit: Pride-Flags · DeviantArt