Intersex flag

 

In 2010, Nathalie Phox created an intersex flag on 11 August 2010. The blue and pink gradient in the middle represents "the range of sexes between male and female", while the lavender color on the top and bottom of the flag represents "a combination of male and female traits". The flag was erroneously posted as a bigender flag, but the author clarified later on that they meant bigender as in "mixed sex characteristics, not gender", which is closer to the definition of intersex.^[2]Unfortunately due to being mistakenly labeled as a "bigender" design, this flag was also used as a bigender flag for some time.

The flag was created in July 2013 by Morgan Carpenter of Intersex Human Rights Australia (then known as Organisation Intersex International Australia) to create a flag "that is not derivative, but is yet firmly grounded in meaning". Yellow and purple were chosen as colours as they were viewed as free from gender associations and were historically used to represent intersex people. The circle is described as "unbroken and unornamented, symbolizing wholeness and completeness, and our potentialities."^[1]

The organization describes it as freely available "for use by any intersex person or organization who wishes to use it, in a human rights affirming community context".^[1]

The intersex flag has been utilised by a range of media and human rights organisations.^[3][4][5][6] In June 2018, intersex activists took part in Utrecht Canal Pride, waving the flag.

In May 2018, New Zealand became the first country where the intersex flag was raised outside the national parliament.^[7][8][9]

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  Intersex activists on a boat at Utrecht Canal Pride in the Netherlands, on June 16, 2018
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  ILGA-Europe conference 2018 participants on Intersex Awareness Day, 2018
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  Rotterdam Pride, Netherlands, 2018
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  Outside the New Zealand Parliament Buildings, 18 March 2019, flown at half-staff in memory of those killed in the Christchurch mosque shootings on 15 March 2019.

The intersex flag has been remixed and adapted in numerous ways. One way has been to replace the middle ring with the symbol of another group, to indicate the intersection of these groups. For example, the autistic intersex flag replaces the ring with an infinity symbol to represent autism.^[10] Another technique is to inset another flag inside the ring: e.g. the pride flag for transgender intersex people puts the transgender flag in the centre. In 2021, the intersex flag was incorporated into the Progress Pride Flag version of the rainbow pride flag by Valentino Vecchietti of Intersex Equality Rights UK.^[11]

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  Autistic intersex flag (2022)
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  Transgender intersex flag (2017)
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  The Progress Pride flag with the intersex flag (2021)

 

Because the word "orchid" comes from the Greek word for testicle, and the orchiectomy is a common surgery performed on intersex infants –especially those with androgen insensitivity syndrome– the orchid flower is symbolic of intersexuality and of opposition to non-consensual genital surgery.^[12][13]

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Intersex flags.

• Intersex
• Intersex human rights