MOGAI Pride Flag

Overview

To provide an inclusive umbrella term as an alternative to the LGBTQIA+ acronym, emphasizing inclusion of lesser-known orientations and gender identities.

The term MOGAI emerged from Tumblr discussions in late 2013 and early 2014. On December 13, 2013, Tumblr user Kay (okaysional, now taodefensesquad) proposed the need for an alternative to the expanding LGBTQIA+ acronym, initially suggesting 'MGS.' Through group discussion, the acronym evolved through MORSGA to MORSGAI and was refined to MOGAI by March 16, 2014. The primary contributor to the final coining was user cloud (then sunsetfucker, now cisphobeofficial), who was 14 years old at the time. Cloud later confirmed the term 'sprung from a group discussion that more or less ended with me coining the term, rather than an individual effort.' ^[1][2]

Identity & Context

Represented Identity

MOGAI community (Marginalized Orientations, Gender Alignments, and Intersex)

Movement

MOGAI identity framework

Language Context

MOGAI stands for Marginalized Orientations, Gender Alignments, and Intersex. Alternate expansions include MOGII (Marginalized Orientations, Gender Identities, and Intersex) and IMOGA (Intersex, Marginalized Orientations, and Gender Alignments). ^[3][1]

Creators

The Creator

Attribution notes

The primary MOGAI flag was designed by Tumblr user fancyblogurl. It was documented on the pride-color-schemes Tumblr blog on August 15, 2016, and appeared on the Pride-Flags DeviantArt account. The original fancyblogurl Tumblr post has been deleted and was not archived, so some details (particularly per-section meanings) have been lost. A separate striped version was created by Tumblr user Rjalker and released as public domain. ^[3][4][5]

Origin

Specific Place

Tumblr

Place Type

social media

Digital Origin

true

Digital origin; no verified physical location.

The flag originated on Tumblr. The earliest confirmed date is October 7, 2015 per the LGBTQIA+ Wiki. The pride-color-schemes Tumblr blog documented it on August 15, 2016. ^[3][4]

Dates & Chronology

Year Created

2015

First public use

October 7, 2015

Period in Use

2015-present

MOGAI gained significant traction on Tumblr in 2014-2016, particularly among communities creating and documenting micro-label identities and flags. The term has since become contentious. ^[3][1]

Christine Feraday's 2016 Master's thesis at Toronto Metropolitan University, 'For lack of a better word: neo-identities in non-cisgender, non-straight communities on Tumblr,' found that many participants were uncomfortable with the term MOGAI when she tried to use it as a recruitment term. ^[6]

Lineage

Indirect influences

Rainbow Pride Flag

Related flags

Aporagender Pride Flag, Apothisexual Pride Flag (2016, pride-color-schemes), Egogender Pride Flag, Gender Neutral Pride Flag, Genderfae Pride Flag, Genderfaun Pride Flag, Graygender Pride Flag, Intergender Pride Flag, Maverique Pride Flag, Neurogender Pride Flag, Neutrois Pride Flag, Xenogender Pride Flag

The MOGAI flag represents an alternative framework to the traditional rainbow flag. Where the rainbow flag symbolizes the broader LGBTQ community, the MOGAI flag emphasizes inclusion of marginalized and lesser-known identities. MOGAI functioned as both a movement and a flag-naming tradition: it gathered communities working on micro-label identities and was the umbrella under which many 2014-2016 era identity flags (including aporagender, maverique, neurogender, and the broader xenogender family) were proposed, designed, and shared. The MOGAI flag itself sits alongside these as the umbrella symbol for that wider documentation effort.

Colors & Symbolism

The documented meaning of the primary design is: 'A rainbow of colors and shades of gray to represent all the different genders and orientations possible.' The outer rainbow ring represents the full spectrum of orientations and gender identities. The inner grayscale ring represents the spectrum from complete absence of identity or attraction through gray areas. More detailed per-section meanings were lost when the original post was deleted. ^[3][4]

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

Outer ring (12 rainbow-colored sections)

The full spectrum of gender identities and sexual orientations. ^[3]

Inner ring (12 grayscale sections)

The spectrum from absence of identity or attraction through gray areas. ^[3]

The original fancyblogurl post that may have contained detailed per-section meanings was deleted before archiving. The Rjalker striped version has no documented per-stripe symbolism. ^[3][5]

No creator-issued hex codes have been documented for either the fancyblogurl or Rjalker designs. The original post containing color details was deleted. The values given are representative samples from the rainbow and grayscale rings rather than a complete enumeration of all 24 sections.

Design

Aspect Ratio

3:5 · standard

Orientation

other

Layout

symbol_on_field

Center Symbol

Concentric rings (outer: 12 rainbow sections, inner: 12 grayscale sections)

The primary design is distinctive among pride flags for using a circular ring symbol on a white field rather than horizontal stripes. The outer ring has 12 sections forming a rainbow spectrum (purple through red). The inner ring has 12 sections forming a grayscale gradient from black to light grey. ^[3][4]

White background with centered concentric ring symbol.

A white field with a centered emblem of two concentric rings. The outer ring is divided into 12 sections, each a different color forming a rainbow spectrum. The inner ring is divided into 12 sections forming a grayscale gradient. An alternate striped version by Rjalker uses six horizontal stripes (teal, pale denim, moss green, khaki yellow, pale purple, yellowish brown).

Usage & Adoption

First Users

MOGAI Tumblr communities

Online Usage

Tumblr, DeviantArt, LGBTQIA+ identity wikis

Current Status

active

The flag circulates primarily in online MOGAI community spaces. The term MOGAI itself has become contentious, which affects the flag's adoption.

Discourse & Debates

• The term MOGAI is significantly contested. Defenders argue it provides necessary inclusion for lesser-recognized identities. Critics argue it lacks boundaries and has been used by bad-faith actors. ^[1]
• Academic research (Feraday, 2016) found that many community members were uncomfortable with the term. ^[6]

Criticisms

• Critics argue MOGAI could be co-opted by people claiming marginalized orientations due to kink or polyamory interests, diluting the term. ^[1]
• Concerns about proliferation of micro-labels under the MOGAI umbrella, with some labels created by trolls or bad-faith actors to discredit the Queer community. ^[1]
• Some MOGAI blogs created pride flags for conditions like depression or misophonia, conflating mental health conditions with gender and sexual identity. ^[1]

MOGAI stands for Marginalized Orientations, Gender Alignments, and Intersex. Alternate expansions include MOGII and IMOGA. The term emerged from a group Tumblr discussion primarily attributed to user cloud (cisphobeofficial). ^[1][2]

Editorial note

MOGAI (Marginalized Orientations, Gender Alignments, and Intersex) emerged from Tumblr discussion in 2014-2015 as an umbrella broader than LGBTQ+, intended to include a-spec orientations, neopronoun users, microidentity coiners, and intersex people. ^[1][2]

By 2016-2017 the term had become a target inside the same online communities that produced it. The critique came from at least three directions. These directions did not share politics.

First, trans and Queer people inside the umbrella were frustrated with bad-faith actors coining identities and flags rapidly, with no community accountability. ^[1]

Second, exclusionary critics outside the umbrella used the proliferation of micro-labels as ammunition against a-spec, neopronoun, and other less-recognized identities. ^[1]

Third, people inside the umbrella who liked the inclusive intent often did not want the label, partly because of the bad-faith actors and partly because the label was being used against them.

Christine Feraday's 2016 master's thesis at Toronto Metropolitan University documented this directly: many participants she tried to recruit using 'MOGAI' were already uncomfortable with the term as a self-descriptor. ^[6]

Community observation is that the term had largely fallen out of use by the late 2010s in favor of LGBTQIA+ and adjacent acronyms. The flag is held here as a documentary record of the period in which the term was actively contested. Its presence is not an endorsement of MOGAI as a current identifier.

Footnotes & Citations

Image Sources

Rendering

fancyblogurl concentric ring design