The Leather Boy Pride Flag
The leather pride flag is a symbol for members of the leather and BDSM subcultures. It was designed by Tony DeBlase in 1989 and first shown at the International Mr Leather contest that same year.
DeBlase intentionally left the flag’s meaning vague, preferring that individuals or clubs assign their own interpretations and symbols to the colors.
Symbolism
The Leather Pride flag represents the men of the leather subculture. Its colors, pink and blue, represent the overlapping of stereotypical masculine and feminine gender roles. It also contains a heart to show love for everyone in the community. This is a variant of the Pride flag that includes a wider white stripe for those who have a boot fetish. This version of the Leather Pride flag has been around since 2009.
The Boy Pride flag is designed to represent boys/bois, a subgroup of the leather/BDSM community. The word “boy” originally denoted younger and more submissive gay men who have an appreciation for older and dominant men, often referred to as Sirs or Daddys.
The BDSM Pride flag was created by Kye Rowan in 2014. It is meant to be used alongside the LGBT Pride Flag, representing people who identify outside the binary. The yellow represents gender that is neither male nor female, while purple symbolizes people who are both binary and non-binary.
Origins
The leather boy pride flag is a symbol for those in the leather community, including those who are into uniforms, cowboy boots, and other fetishes. Its colors symbolize a variety of things: black for leather, blue for denim, and white for purity and solidarity with novices in the BDSM scene.
The flag’s creator, Tony DeBlase, presented it to the leather community at the International Mr. Leather contest in 1989. He left interpretation of the colors and symbols up to the community itself.
The origin of the twink flag is unclear, though it may come from the British slang word “twank,” which means young, hairless men. It also might be an abbreviation of “two spirit,” which refers to people who identify as both masculine and feminine. Regardless, the twink flag has become a popular symbol among gay men. The flag is also used by asexual, aromantic, and demisexual people. Its red heart represents a desire for love, while the blue circle symbolizes an alternative to a traditional male-female binary.
Symbols
Designed by Tony DeBlase, this flag represents the leather boy subculture and its appreciation for older men. Its symbols include black stripes for leather, blue stripes for denim, and a red heart for love. It also includes the white stripe that symbolizes purity and safety. The flag is often seen at Pride parades.
This boy pride flag was first presented at Mid-Atlantic Leather in 1998. It was created by Keith Pollanen, who got the idea from Leather Pride Flag designer Tony DeBlase. The stripes are arranged diagonally, with the left side higher to represent Sir and the right side lower for boy/boi. The blue color was replaced with green, the hanky code for boys/bois.
The width of the stripes is meant to represent the wide range of boot blacks. It premiered at the International LeatherSir/International Leatherboy event in Atlanta, Georgia on Oct 6, 2005. The flag has also become a symbol of other kink and fetish communities, including the BDSM community.
Meaning
The Boy Pride (or Boi Pride) flag is meant to represent Boys/Bois, a sub-group within the leather culture. The word originally denoted younger and submissive gay men, often newcomers to the community, with an appreciation for older and dominant men (these being called Sirs, Masters or Daddys).
The leather boy pride flag features nine stripes of equal width. The stripes are black and blue, with a white stripe in the center. The white stripe symbolizes purity and solidarity with novices in the kink scene. The blue color is a reference to the colors of hanky code.
A variant of the flag was created by Jesse Penley, and introduced at the International LeatherSir/Leatherboy weekend on 6 October 2005. It replaces the blue of the original leather pride flag with pink to represent female leather-lovers. It also includes a white stripe, to represent people who identify as aromantic, which means they never or rarely feel sexual attraction.