Rabiespunk Pride Flag

Overview

To give the reclaimed rabies pride movement a flag. The creator describes the movement as one "for neurodivergent trans people, who are often not taken seriously due to things they were born with and can't control, to reclaim the fact that they are seen/treated as animals, contagious, diseased, etc. and to embrace their 'feral'/'rabid' characteristics." ^[1]

The Tumblr user neopronouns posted the design at 20:01 GMT on 27 April 2021, having read an account of how rabies pride "was turned into a meme and completely divorced from its original meaning": "after learning this information, i decided to make this flag for myself and anyone else who wants to reclaim rabies pride!" They offered it without confidence: "here's my rabies flag design! i'm definitely open to criticism, since i'm not 100% sure if i'm happy with it." ^[1]

Identity & Context

Represented Identity

Neurodivergent (primarily autistic) transgender people who reclaim the dehumanizing stereotypes directed at them, including being treated as animals, as contagious, or as diseased for being perceived as 'too loud,' 'too hyper,' or 'too much' by cisgender neurotypical standards.

Subcommunity

neurodivergent trans community

Movement

rabiespunk / rabies pride

Racial / Ethnic Context

The flag includes explicit representation of neurodivergent trans people of color, with a brown stripe blending the black and brown of the Philadelphia pride flag.

Creators

The Creator

Attribution notes

Created by Tumblr user neopronouns on April 27, 2021. The designer also coined the term 'rabiespunk' to distinguish the movement from rabies in general and to align it with other reclamation-oriented terms such as voidpunk, amatopunk, and trenderpunk. The original Rabies Pride movement creator (dirk-has-rabies) expressed support for the design.

Origin

Digital Origin

Yes

Digital origin; no verified physical location.

Posted on Tumblr by user neopronouns on April 27, 2021.

Dates & Chronology

Year Created

2021

Exact date

April 27, 2021

First public use

April 27, 2021

Period in Use

2021-present

Circulates in neurodivergent and trans spaces on Tumblr. The original Rabies Pride movement creator (dirk-has-rabies) expressed support for the design.

The term 'rabiespunk' was coined to align with other reclamation-oriented identity labels ending in '-punk' (voidpunk, amatopunk, trenderpunk). A second, separate rabies pride flag by an anonymous artist was later posted by Tumblr user genderheaven on November 9, 2021, using a different design featuring red and gold triangles.

Lineage

Direct predecessors

Rabies Pride

Created as a flag for the rabiespunk movement, which is a reclamation and rebranding of the original Rabies Pride concept from 2017. Related to but distinct from earlier rabies pride flag designs. The creator states two derivations directly: the brown "is a blend of the black and brown stripes from the philadelphia pride flag", and the red "comes directly from my neurodivergent flag". The light blue and pink are the transgender pride flag's own values. ^[1]

Lineage tree

Every record reachable from this one through documented parent and child relationships: 2 records across 2 generations.

Ancestor

Rabies Pride

This record

Rabiespunk Pride Flag

Colors & Symbolism

The creator assigns meanings in overlapping sets rather than one per stripe, so most colours carry two or three. ^[1]

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

The creator groups the colours four ways rather than stripe by stripe. Blue, pink and yellow carry "the trans aspect of rabies pride". Red, pink and yellow carry "actual rabies", red for blood and the other two for foaming at the mouth. Blue, green and brown carry nature, "both because rabid animals come from nature and to represent that neurodivergencies and trans identities are natural". Green, red and yellow carry the neurodivergent aspect, red taken directly from the creator's own neurodivergent flag. Brown carries a further meaning of its own. ^[1]

No palette was published in words. These values are measured from the 1000 by 600 artwork the creator posted, where the six stripes are flat fills of a sixth of the height each and sample identically at three positions across the width. The light blue and pink are exactly the transgender pride flag's, which matches the creator's statement that those colours carry the trans meaning. A previous version of this table gave five pastel values attributed to the creator; they came from an anonymous ask about two unrelated flags, one of which the creator said they did not recognise. ^{[1] [2]}

Design

Aspect Ratio

3:5 · apparent

Ratio Notes

Measured from the artwork in the creator's post, which is 1000 by 600 pixels. No proportion is stated in words. ^[1] Written height to width, the archive's convention.

Orientation

horizontal

Stripe Count

6

Layout

horizontal stripes

Stripes (Top → Bottom)

blue, green, brown, red, pink, yellow

Six equal horizontal stripes, each occupying a sixth of the height, measured from the 1000 by 600 artwork in the creator's post. The fills are flat and sample identically across the width. ^[1]

Six equal horizontal stripes, from top to bottom: light blue, green, dark brown, red, pink, and pale yellow. The light blue and pink are the transgender pride flag's own values. Each colour carries more than one meaning, and the creator describes them in overlapping sets rather than one meaning per stripe. ^[1]

Usage & Adoption

First Users

Online neurodivergent trans communities

Online Usage

Tumblr

Current Status

active

Circulates primarily in neurodivergent and trans spaces on Tumblr. The original Rabies Pride movement creator expressed support.

Image Archive

Flag design

Discourse & Debates

• The broader Rabies Pride concept has been heavily satirized and memed since a parody Tumblr account (rabidloving) attracted widespread attention. The rabiespunk term and this flag were created in part to reclaim the movement's original sincere intent.
• Whether reclaiming dehumanizing rhetoric (being treated as rabid, feral, or diseased) is empowering or reinforces negative stereotypes about neurodivergent and trans people.

Common misidentifications

• Frequently confused with the satirical and meme versions of 'rabies pride' or 'rabiosexual,' which are parodies rather than sincere identity expressions.
• May be confused with the separate November 2021 rabies pride flag posted by genderheaven, which uses a different design with red and gold triangles.

The creator proposed "rabiespunk" in the same post, "to distinguish this term from rabies in general and to match with many other terms related to reclamation of queer and neurodivergent identities/stereotypes (such as voidpunk, amatopunk, and trenderpunk)", adding that "rabiosexual causes a lot of confusion, which is why i prefer not to use it for myself and wanted another term, but it's up to you whether you prefer to use rabid, rabiosexual, or rabiespunk!" ^[1]

Footnotes & Citations

Image Sources

Rendering

neopronouns 2021 original

• The Rabiespunk Pride Flag. Colours and stripe order measured from the artwork in the creator's post of 27 April 2021. ^[1] · Credit: Design by neopronouns · Reconstruction measured from the creator's artwork