Hijra Pride Flag

Overview

To provide a pride flag for hijra identity. The creator's intent was representational, but the absence of community involvement in the design is a significant provenance limitation.

This flag was created in 2018 by a Tumblr user outside the hijra community, during a period of proliferating identity-specific pride flags on Tumblr and related platforms. The creator subsequently disclosed she is not hijra and stated that a hijra flag should be made by a hijra community member. No evidence has been found that hijra communities in South Asia were involved in or aware of this flag's creation. ^[1][2]

Identity & Context

Represented Identity

hijra

Subcommunity

South Asian third gender / cultural gender identity

Movement

Hijra rights, third gender recognition

Language Context

Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Nepali; internal language Hijra Farsi

Religious Context

Hindu (worship of Bahuchara Mata, Ardhanarishvara symbolism); also Muslim hijra communities

Racial / Ethnic Context

South Asian

National Context

India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal

Hijra identity is a formalized third gender with ancient roots in South Asian cultures, predating and distinct from Western transgender frameworks. Hijra communities are organized through the guru-chela (teacher-disciple) kinship system, structured into descent houses each led by a Nayak. India's Supreme Court recognized hijra as a 'third gender' in 2014 (NALSA v. Union of India). Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh also provide legal recognition. ^[3][4][5]

Creators

The Creator

Attribution notes

Samir has disclosed she is not a member of the hijra community, does not identify as hijra, and stated that a hijra flag should be made by a member of the hijra community. This self-retraction is the single most important provenance fact about this flag. ^[1][2]

Origin

Digital Origin

Tumblr (divinehijra / ask-pride-color-schemes)

No verified physical origin location. The flag was created digitally on Tumblr.

Posted on or before September 1, 2018, on the ask-pride-color-schemes Tumblr blog. A separate earlier design (2016) by anonymous user 'HijrAnon' also exists but is illustrative rather than striped and has even less documentation. ^[1][6]

Dates & Chronology

Year Created

2018

First public use

September 1, 2018

Period in Use

2018-present (online circulation only)

The flag circulates on English-language LGBTQ+ wiki sites, pride flag merchandise platforms, and color-code databases. No evidence exists of adoption by hijra communities, organizations, or advocates in South Asia. In practice, hijra communities in India use the transgender flag and the rainbow flag in their political organizing and marches. At Bangladesh's first Hijra Pride parade (2014, organized by Bandhu Social Welfare Society), participants carried Bangladeshi national flags and banners, not identity-specific pride flags. Hijra advocacy operates through traditional religious institutional forms (such as the Kinnar Akhara, the Hindu religious order Laxmi Narayan Tripathi founded in 2018, at the 2019 Kumbh Mela) and legal channels rather than through pride flag symbolism. ^[1][7][8][9]

Hijra identity has a long history that substantially predates this flag. Hijra are referenced in the Ramayana and Mahabharata. During the Mughal Empire (1526-1707), hijras held positions in royal courts as custodians, advisors, and political figures. The British criminalized hijra communities under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, imposing a European gender binary that displaced longstanding gender-diverse identities. The community is organized through guru-chela kinship, with many speaking Hijra Farsi, a centuries-old internal language. Hijra are worshippers of the goddess Bahuchara Mata and are believed to hold the power to confer blessings of fertility and prosperity at births and weddings. The symbols hijra communities use for visibility and pride draw from these traditions rather than from Western pride flag conventions. ^{[3][4][5][10]}

Lineage

Indirect influences

Rainbow Pride Flag, Transgender Pride Flag

Related flags

Waria Pride Flag

The pink, white, and blue stripes are drawn from the transgender pride flag palette, with the addition of a red stripe. The borrowing of Western trans flag elements for a non-Western identity that does not map onto Western transgender categories is itself a point of scholarly discussion. ^[1][11]

Colors & Symbolism

A four-stripe flag combining transgender pride flag elements with a red stripe for divine blessing.

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

The framing of hijra identity partly through Western transgender categories (pink/blue binary, white nonbinary) with a culturally specific element (red for Rama's blessing) reflects the tensions scholars have documented between Western LGBTQ+ frameworks and South Asian gender categories. Hijra identity predates and does not map neatly onto Western categories of 'transgender.' Many scholars (Dutta and Roy, 2014; Hinchy, 2022) argue that translating hijra as transgender mobilizes global inequalities and class/caste hierarchies. Most hijras consider themselves a distinct gender category rather than people transitioning between binary genders. ^[3][4][11]

No authoritative hex codes were published by the creator. The pink, white, and blue values are approximations based on the transgender flag palette. The red is unconfirmed. Hex values vary across online reproductions.

Design

Aspect Ratio

3:5 · standard

Orientation

horizontal

Stripe Count

4

Layout

horizontal_stripes

Stripes (Top → Bottom)

Pink, White, Blue, Red

Four equal horizontal stripes. The top three stripes (pink, white, blue) closely resemble the transgender pride flag palette.

Four horizontal stripes in pink, white, blue, and red from top to bottom.

Usage & Adoption

Geographic Usage

English-language internet circulation

Online Usage

LGBTQ+ wiki sites, Pride flag merchandise platforms

Current Status

online circulation only

No evidence of adoption by hijra communities in South Asia. The flag circulates in Western/English-language LGBTQ+ online spaces. Hijra communities use the transgender flag, rainbow flag, national flags, and traditional religious symbols (Bahuchara Mata iconography, Ardhanarishvara imagery, colorful saris) in their political organizing and pride events. ^[1][7][8]

Discourse & Debates

• Whether Western-created pride flags for non-Western gender identities serve those communities or primarily serve Western taxonomic impulses. The hijra flag exists in English-language wiki databases but has no documented presence in hijra community spaces.
• The tension between international LGBTQ+ solidarity symbols (rainbow flag, trans flag) and culturally specific identity markers (Bahuchara Mata, guru-chela traditions, Hijra Farsi). Some scholars note that the rainbow flag itself 'can enable homonationalism and transnational middle class formations that exclude groups of people perceived as traditional, such as Khwaja Siras.' ^[11]

Common misidentifications

• Hijra identity is frequently mistranslated as 'transgender' in Western sources. Most hijras consider themselves a distinct gender category, not people transitioning between binary genders. ^[3][4]

Common confusions

• The pink, white, and blue stripes may cause confusion with the transgender pride flag

Criticisms

• The flag's creator has publicly disclosed she is not hijra and stated that a hijra flag should be made by a hijra community member. This self-retraction is documented across multiple LGBTQ+ wiki sources. ^[1][2]
• The design frames hijra identity partly through Western transgender categories (pink/blue binary, white nonbinary). Scholars argue that hijra identity does not map onto Western gender frameworks, and that applying such frameworks constitutes a form of neo-colonial intrusion. ^[4][11]

Hijra is also known as kinnar in parts of India and khawaja sira in Pakistan. The community speaks Hijra Farsi, a centuries-old internal language. The British criminalized hijra under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871.

Footnotes & Citations

Image Sources

Rendering

Samir 2018 version