Polygender Pride Flag

Overview

To provide a distinct pride symbol for people who identify with multiple genders, distinguishing the polygender experience from related but distinct identities such as bigender, pangender, and genderfluid.

The polygender pride flag is believed to have been created around 2015. Its designer is unknown. The flag uses a five-stripe design with colors chosen to represent different aspects of the polygender experience, including agender, fluctuating gender, femininity, nonbinary genders, and masculinity. Polygender can describe experiencing all these genders simultaneously as a mix, or moving between them at different times, in which case the term overlaps with genderfluid.

Identity & Context

Represented Identity

Polygender people, who experience multiple genders simultaneously or sequentially

Subcommunity

multigender umbrella

Polygender sits within the multigender umbrella, which encompasses all identities involving more than one gender. The multigender family includes bigender (two genders), trigender (three genders), quadgender (four), quintgender (five), polygender (many but not necessarily all), pangender (all genders), and genderfluid (gender shifts over time). The boundary between polygender and genderfluid is often blurry: a person who experiences many genders sequentially might use either term. Some individuals use both. The multigender umbrella flag (purple, blue, orange, unknown creator, c. 2016) serves as the overarching symbol for this family of identities.

Creators

Attribution notes

The designer of the polygender flag is unknown. Multiple sources date the flag to approximately 2015.

Origin

Digital Origin

true

Digital origin; no verified physical location.

The flag appears to have originated in online Queer and gender-diverse communities around 2015. The exact platform and context of its first posting are uncertain.

Dates & Chronology

Year Created

2015

Period in Use

2015-present

The flag circulates in online multigender and gender-diverse communities and appears on identity wikis, pride flag reference sites, and small-run retail vendors.

Polygender is part of the multigender umbrella, which also includes bigender, trigender, pangender, and genderfluid identities. The boundaries between these labels can be fluid, and individuals may use more than one.

Lineage

Indirect influences

Rainbow Pride Flag

Related flags

Bigender Pride Flag, Demifluid Pride Flag, Genderfluid Pride Flag, Genderflux Pride Flag, Multigender Pride Flag, Pangender Pride Flag, Trigender Pride Flag

Part of the multigender flag family. Shares conceptual space with bigender, trigender, pangender, and genderfluid flags, all of which represent experiences of multiple or shifting genders.

Colors & Symbolism

The five stripes represent a spectrum of gender experiences encompassed by polygender identity, from the absence of gender through femininity, nonbinary genders, and masculinity. The design conveys that polygender people may relate to any combination of these positions.

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

Stripe meanings are documented across multiple reference sources but have not been verified from a direct creator statement, since the designer is unknown.

No creator-issued color values exist since the designer is unknown. The hex codes given are circulating values from Library.LGBT and similar reference sites. These should be treated as widely used approximations rather than official specifications.

Design

Aspect Ratio

3:2

Orientation

horizontal

Stripe Count

5

Layout

horizontal stripes

Stripes (Top → Bottom)

black, gray, pink, yellow, blue

Five equal horizontal stripes.

Five equal horizontal stripes, from top to bottom: black, gray, pink, yellow, and blue.

Usage & Adoption

First Users

Online multigender and gender-diverse communities

Online Usage

LGBTQIA+ identity wikis, Pride flag reference sites, Tumblr

Current Status

active

Circulates primarily in online spaces. Available from small pride flag retailers.

Image Archive

Flag design

Discourse & Debates

• Whether polygender is meaningfully distinct from genderfluid, given that both can describe experiencing multiple genders over time. Polygender emphasizes the multiplicity of genders experienced, while genderfluid emphasizes the movement between them, but in practice many individuals use both terms.

Common confusions

• Polygender is sometimes used interchangeably with genderfluid when describing shifting between multiple genders, though the terms have distinct emphases.

Polygender is part of the multigender umbrella. It is distinct from pangender (all genders), bigender (two genders), and trigender (three genders), though individuals may use multiple labels.

Footnotes & Citations

Image Sources

• The Polygender Pride Flag. Black represents partial agender identity, gray represents fluctuating gender, pink represents femininity, yellow represents genders outside the binary, and blue represents masculinity. · SVG reconstruction