Polysexual Pride Flag

Overview

Provide a distinct emblem for polysexual identity visibility. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Samlin designed the flag to 'sit alongside' the bisexual and pansexual flags, noting that 'they're all under the multisexual umbrella.' Pink and blue were borrowed from those flags to maintain visual kinship, while the green middle stripe replaced the overlapping purple or yellow of the bi and pan flags to signal a distinct identity. ^[3] Secondary references corroborate that the flag was developed because polysexual people lacked a distinct flag. ^[1][2]

Identity & Context

Represented Identity

polysexual

Subcommunity

multisexual umbrella / bi+ spectrum (community framing)

Creators

The Creator

Origin

Digital Origin

true

Digital origin; no verified physical location.

Widely described as created and disseminated on Tumblr; no reliable geographic origin was established. ^{[1] [3]}

Dates & Chronology

Year Created

2012

First public use

July 11, 2012

Period in Use

2012–present

Reference sources document online spread and note sporadic real-world pride event appearances; institutional glossaries include it as a standard identity flag. ^{[2] [4] [5]}

Lineage

Indirect influences

Bisexual Pride Flag, Pansexual Pride Flag, Rainbow Pride Flag

Multiple sources describe deliberate design similarity to bisexual and pansexual flags, placing polysexual within a bi+ spectrum family. ^{[1] [2] [3]} Influenced by the general striped pride-flag idiom popularized by the rainbow tradition (template influence, not direct descent). Part of the same multisexual / bi+ cluster as bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, and (more loosely) abrosexual flags. ^{[1] [2]}

Colors & Symbolism

A tri-color flag representing attraction to multiple genders with a green middle stripe to signal attraction beyond the binary in many retellings. ^{[1] [2]}

Library.LGBT reference palette (not official)

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

Some retellings use gendered "women/men" language; others abstract to "femininity/masculinity." Both phrasings appear across sources, without preference between them. ^{[1] [2] [4]}

Library.LGBT provides a common hex set; a widely used Wikimedia Commons SVG file embeds very similar hex values (#f61cb9, #07d569, #1c92f6). ^{[1] [6]} Without an official creator-published palette, these are best understood as community-standard approximations.

Design

Aspect Ratio

3:5 · standard

Orientation

horizontal

Stripe Count

3

Layout

horizontal_stripes

Stripes (Top → Bottom)

Pink, Green, Blue

Three equally sized horizontal stripes: pink at top, green in middle, blue at bottom; no emblem. ^{[1] [6]} Common digital versions use 3:5 ratio in SVG reconstructions; proportion not established as "official."

Usage & Adoption

First Users

Tumblr-connected multisexual communities (reported)

Online Usage

Widely represented online and in institutional pride-flag lists

Current Status

active

Reference documentation emphasizes that online images outnumber real-life hoist documentation. ^[2]

Discourse & Debates

• Whether polysexual, bisexual, pansexual, and omnisexual should be grouped under a shared 'bi umbrella' or 'multisexual spectrum' (sometimes abbreviated m-spec) remains contested. Some bisexual advocates view the proliferation of sub-labels as fragmenting community solidarity, while polysexual-identified people argue the distinctions reflect genuinely different experiences of attraction. ^[7]
• Polysexual identity faces a double invisibility problem: it is lesser-known than bisexual and pansexual identities, and it is frequently confused with polyamory, a relationship structure rather than a sexual orientation. This conflation dilutes search results, educational materials, and community visibility. ^[7][8]
• The term 'polysexual' has appeared in LGBTQ+ publications since at least 1976, when Greg Turner used it in The Gay Liberator, predating the current wave of multisexual identity discourse by decades. ^[8]

Common confusions

• Frequently confused with Polyamory flags because "poly-" overlaps linguistically; site tagging should mitigate confusion

Sometimes labeled "poly pride flag" in community contexts, which is ambiguous; preserve "poly flag" only as an alternate name with explicit ambiguity note. ^[2]

Footnotes & Citations

Image Sources

Rendering

three-stripe standard

• Credit: Samlin (design attribution); SVG file by McLennonSon (uploader) · Library.LGBT + Wikimedia Commons file record
• The polysexual pride flag, attributed to Tumblr user Samlin and dated to July 11, 2012. The three stripes represent attraction to multiple genders: pink for attraction to women or femininity, green for attraction to nonbinary people or genders outside the binary, and blue for attraction to men or masculinity. The design deliberately echoes the bisexual and pansexual flags as part of the broader bi+ spectrum family. · Community reference