Polyamorous Pride Flag (2022, Red Howell)
Identity Pride Flag ·
A redesigned polyamorous pride flag selected through a community vote of 30,827 people in November 2022, organized by the PolyamProud volunteer coalition. Designed by Red Howell, it features three horizontal stripes (blue, magenta, dark purple) with a white chevron on the hoist side containing a gold heart, representing possibility, desire, openness, perseverance, and community. [1][2]
Key facts
- Designer
- Red Howell
- Created
- In use
- 2022 to present
- Aspect Ratio
- 3:5 · standard
- Stripes
- 3
- Represented Identity
- polyamorous and non-monogamous
Also known as
- New Polyamory Flag
- PolyamProud Flag
- Tricolor Polyamory Pride Flag
- polyamorous
- polyamory
- poly
- non-monogamous
- ENM
- ethical non-monogamy
Status Canonical
Archive categories Sexuality Pride Flags
Overview
To replace the 1995 polyamorous pride flag through a transparent, community-governed process that would produce a design with broader representational reach and stronger vexillological qualities. [1][3]
The PolyamProud volunteer coalition launched a campaign in May 2021 to create a new polyamorous pride flag through a structured, community-driven process. Professional designers and researchers collected existing polyamory symbols as a starting point. PolyamProud set 25 August 2022 as the deadline for design submissions from the public and capped the public shortlist at no more than six designs. [4] By spring 2022, a committee of 30 advisors reviewed 15 candidate designs. A smaller committee of 7 (originally planned as 11) along with 20+ advisors narrowed the field to 4 finalists. Four designs reached the public vote: in final rank order, the tricolor, Heart Continuum, Tetracor and Wide Band. [1] Public instant-runoff voting ran from November 1 to 22, 2022, with 30,827 people casting votes. The tricolor won the final round with 15,636 votes to Heart Continuum's 14,843, a margin of 793. [1][2] Email verification and bot filtering were used to ensure vote integrity. Results were announced on November 23, 2022, which is observed as Polyamory Day. [1][3][4]
Sixteen advisors were named publicly, among a larger group who did not all consent to being identified; they include Dr. Elisabeth Sheff, Justin Clardy PhD, Leanne Yau, Gabrielle Alexa, Gregory Engels, Kim Kinnear and Julio César Pérez Jerez. [4] Design assessment was guided by the North American Vexillological Association's (NAVA) Good Flag Bad Flag principles. [4]
Identity & Context
- Represented Identity
- polyamorous and non-monogamous
- Subcommunity
- non-monogamous / relationship style
- Movement
- polyamorous visibility, non-monogamous community building
- Racial / Ethnic Context
- The purple stripe explicitly acknowledges that today's non-monogamous community 'includes and was preceded by People of the Global Majority.' [2]
The flag explicitly includes asexual spectrum, aromantic spectrum, Queerplatonic, tertiary, and alterous relationships within its definition of non-monogamy. [2]
Creators
The Creator
Red Howell
Designer
Red Howell designed the winning entry in the PolyamProud community flag selection process. Very little biographical information is publicly available, and Howell did not respond to press inquiries after the announcement of the winning design. [5]
Attribution
- Organization
- PolyamProud
- Commissioned By
- PolyamProud volunteer coalition
Attribution notes
Very little biographical information about Red Howell is publicly available. Howell did not respond to press inquiries after the flag's announcement. [5]
Origin
- Place Type
- community design competition / digital dissemination
- Digital Origin
- true
No verified physical origin location. The flag was selected through an online community process. Without a confirmed location, Indigenous land context cannot be attributed.
The flag was selected through PolyamProud's online community vote. No specific geographic origin has been documented for the design itself. [1][4]
Dates & Chronology
- Year Created
- Period in Use
- 2022 to present
The flag was announced on Polyamory Day, November 23, 2022. [1] The Bay Area Reporter reports a formal reveal date of December 12, 2022 -- this date discrepancy with the November 23 announcement has not been resolved. [5] The design gained rapid online traction after the vote results were published. HRC included the flag on its Pride Flags resource page. [6]
The PolyamProud process is itself historically significant as a model of community-driven design governance for identity symbols. Unlike most pride flags, which are created by individual designers and gain adoption organically, this flag was selected through a structured democratic process with public voting, vexillological review criteria, and a deliberate effort to include diverse perspectives within the non-monogamous community. PolyamProud is an independent, not-for-profit, volunteer-run organization that received fewer than $500 USD in total donations throughout the process. [4]
The flag is released under a Creative Commons license reflecting the organizers' stated position that 'any polyamorous or non-monogamous pride flag should be owned by the public and free to use by anyone in any way, forever.' [4]
Lineage
- Direct predecessors
- Polyamorous Pride Flag
Succeeds the 1995 polyamorous pride flag designed by Jim Evans, and PolyamProud positioned it as a community-selected replacement. The relationship is stated by the designer's own account of the brief: "a contemporary approach to traditional vexillological elements from the original 'Pi' flag," taking "the best of the original flag, including its color symbolism," and improving "on those elements of the Pi flag which alienated viewers." [2] Only the blue carries a meaning forward intact, openness and honesty; the composition is new. The infinity heart, the symbol most associated with polyamory by 2022 and the basis of the 2016 Monroe and 2019 Essex flags, was excluded by a committee vote of 5 to 2. [7]
Lineage tree
Every record reachable from this one through documented parent and child relationships: 2 records across 2 generations.
- Ancestor
- Polyamorous Pride Flag
- This record
- Polyamorous Pride Flag (2022, Red Howell)
Colors & Symbolism
A flag for the polyamorous and wider non-monogamous community. PolyamProud states its scope of inclusion explicitly: the flag and the community "include, acknowledge, and fiercely advocate for a breadth of love and relationship styles and identities, the asexual spectrum & aromantic spectrum, as well as queerplatonic, tertiary, and otherwise alterous relationships absolutely among them." The chevron sits asymmetrically "to reflect the non-traditional style of polyamorous relationships," and the heart inside it "reminds us that love in all forms is the core of non-monogamy." [2]
| Colour | Hex | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Blue | #009FE3 | Openness and honesty, "just like in the original Pi flag." PolyamProud: "Openness and honesty are core values in healthy relationships. We strive to be open and honest with our partners as well as with ourselves." The page attaches a second reading to the same color: "many in our community don't have the privilege to practice their non-monogamy openly," and the blue also stands for hope of "a safer and more welcoming future where every one of us can be open and honest about their polyamorous practice, identity, or orientation." [2] |
| Magenta | #E50051 | Desire, love and attraction. PolyamProud: "Slightly shifted from the red in the original flag, this design's magenta includes the addition of desire, which in many cases can be experienced without love nor attraction." The page ties the addition to a stated scope of inclusion covering "the asexual spectrum & aromantic spectrum, as well as queerplatonic, tertiary, and otherwise alterous relationships." [2] |
| Dark Purple | #340C46 | A united non-monogamous community. PolyamProud: "Today's non-monogamous community includes and was preceded by People of the Global Majority—Black, Brown, Indigenous, and People of Color—whose cultural practices of non-monogamy were and have been historically unacknowledged, suppressed, ridiculed, or erased." A united community, the page continues, "actively champions and holds space in abundance for the people of diverse intersectional races, ethnicities, sexualities, and genders who share in the non-monogamous experience." [2] |
| White | #FFFFFF | Possibility. PolyamProud: "The chevron's white represents possibility—the blank canvas upon which every non-monogamous person creates and develops their individual relationships. possibility also signals hope for the future of the polyamorous and non-monogamous community." [2] |
| Gold | #FCBF00 | Energy and perseverance. PolyamProud: "Perseverance is courageous action in the face of adversity. This might look like persevering in your freedom to have multiple relationships. It may also include standing firm in who you are against cultural structures which oppress and suppress your right to live and love as you see fit." Of the heart itself: it "reminds us that love in all forms is the core of non-monogamy." [2] |
PolyamProud official, confirmed via Wikidata Q120835367 [2][8]
- Chevron shape and asymmetric position
- Growth and progress. The chevron "points toward the opposite end of the flag, a symbol of growth and progress, and sits asymmetrically on the flag to reflect the non-traditional style of polyamorous relationships." [2]
Every color and symbol meaning here comes from PolyamProud's official flag page, quoted rather than paraphrased. [2] Blue's openness and honesty is the one meaning the page states is carried over from the 1995 Pi flag. Wikidata Q120835367 restates the same scheme but glosses purple as "solidarity" and gold as "grit," neither of which appears in PolyamProud's text; it cites the flag page as its source, so it is a restatement rather than a second witness. [8]
Official hex values are published by PolyamProud and cross-confirmed via the Wikidata entry (Q120835367). [2][8] PolyamProud publishes each colour in hex, RGB and CMYK; the CMYK values are not recorded here. [2]
Design
- Aspect Ratio
- 3:5 · standard
- Orientation
- horizontal stripes with hoist-side chevron
- Stripe Count
- 3
- Layout
- horizontal stripes with chevron and heart symbol
- Stripes (Top → Bottom)
- Blue, Magenta, Dark Purple
- Additional Symbols
- White chevron on hoist side pointing outward, Gold heart inside chevron
The chevron points toward the fly and sits asymmetrically on the vertical plane rather than centred, which PolyamProud describes as deliberate, reflecting "the non-traditional style of polyamorous relationships." [1][2]
Three horizontal stripes of equal width, blue over magenta over dark purple. A white chevron originates at the hoist and points toward the fly, with a gold heart inside it. Neither PolyamProud's flag page nor its results post states stripe proportions; the equal thirds are measured from the artwork. [2][9]
Three horizontal stripes (blue on top, magenta in the center, dark purple on the bottom) with a white chevron on the hoist side pointing outward. A gold heart sits inside the chevron. The chevron's position is asymmetric, a deliberate departure from centered or symmetrical flag layouts.
Usage & Adoption
- First Users
- PolyamProud and polyamorous community members following the November 2022 vote
- Organizations
- PolyamProud, HRC (listed on Pride Flags resource page)
- Geographic Usage
- International / online-first adoption
- Current Status
- active and growing
Adoption began immediately: Flags for Good listed the design for preorder within hours of the result, and PolyamProud reported creators applying it in illustrations, designs and crafts within weeks. [1] The selection through a public vote of more than 30,000 people gives the design a legitimacy claim most community pride flags lack, though the count is the organizer's own and was not independently audited. [1][10]
Image Archive
Renderings
Discourse & Debates
- Date discrepancy between the November 23, 2022 announcement (Polyamory Day) reported by PolyamProud and a December 12, 2022 formal reveal date reported by the Bay Area Reporter. The reason for this discrepancy is unclear. [1][5]
Common confusions
- Sometimes confused with the 1995 polyamorous pride flag by Jim Evans, which uses a different color scheme and features a pi symbol rather than a heart and chevron
The flag is sometimes called the 'New Polyamory Flag' or the 'PolyamProud Flag' informally. The Wikimedia Commons SVG is titled 'Tricolor Polyamory Pride Flag.' [9]
Footnotes & Citations
Sources and footnotes 13 sources
Official
- 1. The Surprising Result of the Vote for a New Polyamorous Pride Flag. PolyamProud. PolyamProud (2022-12-12). Accessed 2026-03-30 · Archived version
- 2. Flag. PolyamProud. PolyamProud. Accessed 2026-03-30 · Archived version
- 3. The Home Stretch: An Update on the Process to Choose a New Polyamorous Pride Flag. Dee Morgan. PolyamProud (2022-07-09). Accessed 2026-03-30 · Archived version
- 4. FAQ. PolyamProud. PolyamProud. Accessed 2026-03-30 · Archived version
News
- 5. LGBTQ Agenda: New polyamorous flag is revealed. Eric Burkett. Bay Area Reporter (2022-12-20, updated 2022-12-22). Accessed 2026-03-30
Blogs & Personal Sources
- 10. Voting for New Polyamory Flag Passes.... Polyamory in the News (2022-11). Accessed 2026-03-30
- Celebrating the New Polyamory Pride Flag. Discovering Polyamory. Accessed 2026-03-30
Reference
- 9. File:Tricolor Polyamory Pride Flag.svg. Wikimedia Commons. Accessed 2026-03-30
- 8. Wikidata entry Q120835367. Wikidata. Accessed 2026-03-30
Organizations
- 6. LGBTQ+ Pride Flags. Human Rights Campaign. Accessed 2026-03-30
- File:Tricolor Polyamory Pride Flag.svg. Red Howell. Wikimedia Commons, from https://www.polyamproud.com/flag (2022-10-30). Accessed 2026-07-28
- 7. Answering Some Questions About the Vote for a New Polyamory Flag. Dee Morgan. PolyamProud (2022-11-20). Accessed 2026-07-29 · Archived version
- our mission. PolyamProud. PolyamProud. Accessed 2026-07-29 · Archived version
Image Sources
- Rendering
- polyamorous-pride-2022-howell
- The flag as published by PolyamProud and released to the public domain by its designer. · Credit: Red Howell, CC0 · Wikimedia Commons