Two-Spirit Pride Flag (2Sanon)

Overview

To provide a visible symbol that represents Two-Spirit identity within the broader framework of Queer pride, centering Indigenous symbolism while remaining legible within existing pride flag visual language. ^[1]

In 2016, Tumblr user 2Sanon submitted a Two-Spirit pride flag design to the ask-pride-color-schemes blog, a community resource for pride flag proposals. The design placed Indigenous symbolism, two feathers and a unifying circle, over the six-stripe rainbow, creating a visual bridge between Indigenous gender traditions and contemporary Queer iconography. Though earlier Two-Spirit flag designs existed (notably Art Zoccole's 2005 design for the 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations in Toronto), 2Sanon's design became the most widely circulated and commercially reproduced version. ^[1][3]

Identity & Context

Represented Identity

Two-Spirit

Subcommunity

Indigenous North American LGBTQ people who hold culturally specific gender/social roles

Movement

Two-Spirit visibility, Indigenous Queer pride

Diaspora Context

North American Indigenous communities, both within and across national borders (US, Canada)

Language Context

The English term 'Two-Spirit' was proposed by Myra Laramee (Fisher River Cree) and Albert McLeod (Nisichawayasihk Cree) in 1990 at the third annual inter-tribal Native American/First Nations gay and lesbian conference near Beausejour, Manitoba. The Ojibwe translation 'Niizh manidoowag' was constructed afterward to honor the local Indigenous language, the English term came first. It was adopted by consensus to replace the colonial anthropological term 'berdache.' ^[4]

Religious Context

Two-Spirit identity is rooted in specific Indigenous spiritual and ceremonial traditions. The circle and feather motif references the spiritual dimension of Two-Spirit roles in many Nations.

Racial / Ethnic Context

Exclusively Indigenous North American identity. The term and identity 'does not make sense' unless contextualized within a Native American or First Nations framework and traditional cultural understanding. Non-Indigenous people using the term is considered inappropriate. ^[4]

National Context

Pan-Indigenous identity spanning US and Canadian First Nations, though specific Two-Spirit roles vary significantly between Nations

Two-Spirit is not a single unified identity but a pan-Indigenous umbrella term. Individual Nations have their own terms and understandings: the Navajo term is 'nádleehí,' the Lakota use 'winkte,' and the Ojibwe use 'niizh manidoowag.' The flag serves as a cross-Nation symbol of shared identity. ^[4]

Creators

The Creator

Attribution notes

2Sanon is a pseudonymous Tumblr user who submitted the flag design to the ask-pride-color-schemes blog on December 17, 2016. In the original submission, 2Sanon identified as Lakota and stated that in their tribe, the term used is 'winkte.' They described Two-Spirit as 'an exclusive gender for Native Americans' where 'a person has the spirit of both woman and man within them,' comparing it to 'a cultural version of bigender.' No further identifying information is publicly available. ^[1][2]

Origin

Place Type

Tumblr submission

Digital Origin

true

Origin Type

first_publication

Physical Origin Status

unknown

Digitally originated. The anonymous creator's physical location has not been verified. No Indigenous land context can be attributed without a confirmed physical origin. ^[1]

Pending Review The creator is anonymous and the physical location of origin is unknown. If the creator's location is ever identified, land context should be added. The flag's Indigenous identity context (Two-Spirit, pan-Indigenous North American) is well documented but should not be conflated with a specific place attribution.

Submitted to the Tumblr blog ask-pride-color-schemes on December 17, 2016. The blog served as a community clearinghouse for pride flag proposals during this period. ^[1]

Indigenous Identity Context

Affiliation Type

identity_framework

Pan-Indigenous

Yes

The Two-Spirit identity is exclusively Indigenous North American. The anonymous creator noted that the term and identity "does not make sense" unless contextualized within a Native American or First Nations framework. However, no specific nation or community affiliation has been documented for the anonymous creator. ^{[4] [4]}

Human Interest

The flag without a face

2Sanon's Two-Spirit flag is the most commercially reproduced Two-Spirit symbol in circulation. It is sold by Flags For Good, Proud Libertarian, Grand Rapids Pride Center, and other retailers, has been raised at the University of Waterloo, is flown at Pride events across North America, and is included in institutional pride guides from HRC to Library.LGBT. Its Lakota creator remains pseudonymous and unreachable. The Tumblr username '2Sanon' (likely a portmanteau of '2S' for Two-Spirit and 'anon' for anonymous) has left no other digital trail: no interview, no follow-up post, no claim of authorship beyond the single December 2016 submission to ask-pride-color-schemes. ^[1][5][6]

Dates & Chronology

Year Created

2016

Exact date

December 17, 2016

First public use

December 17, 2016

Period in Use

2016–present

The flag spread through Tumblr reblogging and social media sharing after its 2016 submission. It has since been adopted as the de facto Two-Spirit pride flag across commercial flag manufacturers, institutional pride guides, and community events. It was incorporated into a 'Progress Pride flag' variant and was displayed at an official event in 2022 in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Treaty 8 Territory, Canada.

In June 2023, it appeared at the Two-Spirit Powwow in Spokane, Washington. The design is usually placed over the general rainbow flag but can also be overlaid on transgender or nonbinary pride flags. ^[3][5]

Though the most widely circulated Two-Spirit flag, this design is one of several variants. Art Zoccole created the earliest known Two-Spirit flag in 2005 for the 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations (2SPFN) in Toronto. A third variant was proposed by Tumblr user snozzzz (lgbtqa-pride-icons), and a fourth was created by Twitter user sirieko on July 4, 2021. None of these flags has official or universally agreed-upon status, Two-Spirit communities are diverse across Nations, and no single design holds pan-Indigenous authority. ^[3]

Lineage

Direct predecessors

Two-Spirit Pride Flag (2005, Zoccole)

Indirect influences

Rainbow Pride Flag

Direct children

Two-Spirit Nonbinary Pride Flag (2Sanon), Two-Spirit Pride Flag (2021, sirieko)

Related flags

Progress Pride Flag

Part of a small family of Two-Spirit flag variants. The 2005 Zoccole flag is the earliest predecessor; this 2016 design became the canonical version by community adoption rather than institutional decree. The 2021 sirieko variant is a descendant that departs from the rainbow base entirely. All sit alongside but separate from the Indigiqueer flag family, which addresses broader Indigenous Queerness beyond the Two-Spirit framework specifically. ^[3]

Lineage tree

Every record reachable from this one through documented parent and child relationships: 7 records across 6 generations.

Ancestors -4

Original Rainbow Flag (1978)

Ancestors -3

Seven-Stripe Rainbow Flag (1978)

Ancestors -2

Rainbow Pride Flag

Ancestor

Two-Spirit Pride Flag (2005, Zoccole)

This record

Two-Spirit Pride Flag (2Sanon)

Children

Two-Spirit Nonbinary Pride Flag (2Sanon), Two-Spirit Pride Flag (2021, sirieko)

Colors & Symbolism

The flag combines two symbolic vocabularies. The six-stripe rainbow represents modern Queer community and identity, and the feather-and-circle iconography represents the traditional spiritual and gender role of Two-Spirit people. The overlay signals that Two-Spirit identity is both Indigenous and Queer. ^[1][3]

Standard six-stripe rainbow

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

Two feathers (white with black tips) hanging from the circle

Represent 'woman and man', the masculine and feminine spirits housed within one Two-Spirit person. ^[1][7][2]

Circle at center, behind feathers

Represents 'unity in one', the unification of both masculine and feminine identities into a distinct, separate gender. ^[1][7][2]

The feather-and-circle motif should not be read as a simple male/female binary. Two-Spirit identity encompasses a wide range of gender diversity that varies between Nations. The 'two spirits' framing is itself a simplification adopted for cross-Nation legibility; many Nations' own understandings of these roles do not map neatly onto a masculine/feminine duality. ^[4]

The rainbow base uses standard six-stripe colors. The emblem uses black and white. No official palette has been published by the creator. Exact hex values are provisional approximations.

Design

Aspect Ratio

3:5 · standard

Orientation

horizontal

Stripe Count

6

Layout

horizontal stripes with center symbol

Stripes (Top → Bottom)

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet

Center Symbol

Two white feathers with black tips, hanging downward from a circle

The feather-and-circle emblem is centered on the flag field. The feathers are white with black tips, depicted in a stylized form, hanging downward from the circle.

The base is a standard six-stripe rainbow field. The Two-Spirit emblem (two feathers in front of a circle) is centered over the rainbow stripes. The original Tumblr submission included four versions: (1) a more complex design with two faces, a dreamcatcher, an eagle, and the text '2-Spirits'; (2) the simplified feather-and-circle on the rainbow flag; (3) the same emblem on the trans pride flag; (4) the same emblem on the nonbinary pride flag. The simplified rainbow version (2) became the most widely adopted. ^[1][2]

Six equal horizontal stripes in the standard rainbow sequence (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet) serve as the field. A centered emblem consists of two stylized white feathers with black tips, hanging downward from a circle. The circle sits at center behind the feathers, representing the unity of masculine and feminine spirits.

Usage & Adoption

Organizations

Multiple commercial flag manufacturers (Flags For Good, Proud Libertarian, Grand Rapids Pride Center, National Capital Flag, Rad Pride), University of Waterloo (raised on campus June 2023) ^[6], Pride YMM / Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (official Pride Week flag, 2022), Day of Pink (educational curriculum guide) ^[8]

Geographic Usage

United States, Canada

Online Usage

Widely circulated on Tumblr, Twitter/X, and Instagram, Used by institutional pride flag guides (HRC, Library.LGBT, PrideFlags.org)

Event Usage

Utah Pride, Salt Lake City (2019) ^[9], Pride Month, Fort Erie, Ontario, Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre (2021) ^[9], Pride London Ontario (2022) ^[9], Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Treaty 8 Territory, Canada, Pride Week opening ceremonies (2022; used Mitchel Bowers's Two-Spirit Progress Pride Flag variant), Two-Spirit Powwow, Spokane, Washington (June 2023; event confirmed, specific flag use assumed)

Current Status

active

Despite having no official or institutional origin, this design has become the de facto Two-Spirit pride flag through community adoption and commercial reproduction. It appears in most institutional pride flag guides as the representative Two-Spirit flag. ^[3][5]

Discourse & Debates

• Indigenous pride flags are underrepresented in mainstream pride flag databases. Of the major English-language flag reference sources, only the LGBTQIA+ Wiki and Flags of the World (FOTW) include Indigenous flag entries, and typically only one design, without context for the broader lineage of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer flags. This gap is notable given that Two-Spirit flags have existed since at least 2005, predating many flags that are routinely cataloged, suggesting that archival omission reflects curatorial blind spots rather than a lack of material.
• Whether a single Two-Spirit pride flag is appropriate given the diversity of Two-Spirit traditions across Nations ^[4]
• Whether non-Indigenous people should use or display this flag, or whether it should remain within Indigenous communities ^[4]
• The relationship between Two-Spirit identity and Western LGBTQ+ categories, whether the rainbow base implies an equivalence that misrepresents Two-Spirit traditions ^[4]

Common confusions

• Confusion between the multiple Two-Spirit flag variants (2005 Zoccole, 2016 2Sanon, 2021 sirieko)
• Conflation of Two-Spirit identity with being 'gay and Indigenous', Two-Spirit encompasses specific cultural and spiritual roles that do not map directly onto Western sexuality/gender categories ^[4]

Criticisms

• Some critics note that no single flag can represent the diversity of Two-Spirit identities across hundreds of distinct Nations, each with their own understandings of gender and spiritual roles. A pan-Indigenous symbol necessarily flattens these differences. ^[4]
• The use of a 'masculine/feminine' feather binary has been questioned as potentially reinforcing the very gender binaries that Two-Spirit identity complicates. Some Two-Spirit people have noted that 'two spirits' itself is a simplification. ^[4]

Two-Spirit (also written Two Spirit, 2S, or two-spirit) is an exclusively Indigenous North American identity. The term was adopted by consensus at the 1990 Winnipeg gathering to replace the colonial term 'berdache.' Using the term as a non-Indigenous person, or treating it as interchangeable with Western LGBTQ+ labels, is considered inappropriate. The related term 'Indigiqueer' (coined by TJ Cuthand, popularized by Joshua Whitehead) offers an alternative that does not rely on a binary gender framework. ^[4]

Footnotes & Citations

Image Sources

Rendering

two-spirit-2016-2sanon