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Anarcha-Queer (Queer Anarchism)
Pink and black flags of Anarchism
Last modified: 2022-11-18 by randy young
Keywords: anarcha-queer | queer anarchism | diagonal | pink | black | anarchism | rainbow | bicolor:horizontal (black-pink) |
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image by Tomislav Todorović, 1 May 2022
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Queer anarchism, or anarcha-queer, intends to achieve the queer liberation through the Anarchism. As such, it uses the flags which combine black for the Anarchism with pink for the queer liberation, the latter color being borrowed from the pink triangle: https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/qq-p3.html and/or the pink flags: https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/qq-pink.html.
The use of such flags is not limited to LGBT-related events, though; they also appear at the other events where their users participate. The earliest use which is currently recorded online was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the Gay Pride parade in 2003.[1] The flag used there was parted diagonally from top hoist to bottom fly, with black above pink. The next recorded use was at the anti-war protests in Washington, DC, in 2005 [2] and then again in 2007.[3] The flag was used again in Bucharest, Romania, at the Bucharest Pride 2014,[4] this time together with several Anarcha-feminist flags.
Tomislav Todorović, 1 May 2022
Sources:
[1] Pittsburgh Independent Media Center website: http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/news/2003/06/7100.php
[2] Wikimedia Commons - Photo from Washington, DC, on 24 September 2005: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:S24_Black_Bloc_4.jpg
[3] Wikimedia Commons - Photo from Washington, DC, on 27 January 2007: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:J27_radical_youth_feeder_march_at_Convention_Center.jpg
[4] Flickr - Photo from Bucharest, Romania, on 7 June 2014: https://www.flickr.com/photos/felixp7/14388621033/
image by Tomislav Todorović, 1 May 2022
The color arrangement of pink above black is much more frequently used. Such a flag, parted diagonally from bottom hoist to top fly, was used in Portland, Maine, at the Southern Maine Pride 2008.[1] It was used again in San Francisco, California, at the Dyke March 2013 [2] and in Paris, France, at the Paris Gay Pride 2013.[3] In Helsinki, Finland, it was used at the Helsinki Pride in 2013 [4] and again in 2014.[5] In Haifa, Israel, it was brought to the Haifa Pride in 2017 [6] and again in 2019 [7] and, in the meantime, it was seen at the Queer May Festival 2018 in Krakow, Poland,[8] as well as in Copenhagen, Denmark, at the Pink/Sort Blok demonstration, an event which took place along with the Copenhagen Pride 2018.[9]
Tomislav Todorović, 1 May 2022
Sources:
[1] Flickr - Photo from Portland, Maine, on 21 June 2008: https://www.flickr.com/photos/samm4mrox/2666455236/
[2] Wikimedia Commons - Photo from San Francisco, California, on 29 June 2013: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dyke_March_2013_(9518783879).jpg
[3] Wikimedia Commons - Photo from Paris, France, on 29 June 2013: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paris_Gay_Pride_2013_036.jpg
[4] Wikimedia Commons - Photo from Helsinki, Finland, on 2 July 2013: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pride3_(9191395922).jpg
[5] Wikimedia Commons - Photo from Helsinki, Finland, on 28 June 2014: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DSC_8599_(14554641204).jpg
[6] 123rf.com photo archive - Photo from Haifa, Israel, on 30 June 2017: https://www.123rf.com/photo_81527902_haifa-israel-june-30-2017-people-march-in-the-annual-pride-parade-of-the-lgbt-community-in-the-stree.html
[7] 123rf.com photo archive - Photo from Haifa, Israel, on 28 June 2019: https://www.123rf.com/photo_127627759_haifa-israel-june-28-2019-people-with-protest-signs-in-the-annual-pride-parade-of-the-lgbt-community.html
[8] Wikimedia Commons - Photo from Krakow, Poland, on 19 May 2018: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:02018_0045_Das_Queer_Mai_Festival_2018,_die_Kultur_der_LGBTQI_in_Krakau,_Marsch_der_Gleichheit_am_19._Mai_2018.jpg
[9] Flickr - Photo from Copenhagen, Denmark, on 18 August 2018: https://www.flickr.com/photos/134331036@N08/44117052801/
image by Tomislav Todorović, 1 May 2022
Flags with black above pink may also be parted from bottom hoist to top fly. This was the case at the demonstration named "For Russia without the Inquisition," which took place in Moscow on 24 Novmeber 2012;[1] various other Anarchist flags were present there as well, as was the case in Ankara, Turkey, at the 8 March demonstration in 2013 [2] and again in Moscow, at the Boris Nemcov memorial march in 2015.[3] In Brussels, Belgium, the flag was seen at the Belgian Pride 2018 together with an Anarcho-syndicalist flag.[4]
Tomislav Todorović, 1 May 2022
Sources:
[1] Rainbow Association blog - entry on 26 November 2012: https://radarus.livejournal.com/66231.html
[2] Ahali Gazetesi blog - entry on 8 March 2013: http://ahaligazetesi.blogspot.com/2013/03/8-mart-dunya-emekci-kadnlar-gununde.html
[3] Wikimedia Commons - Photo from Moscow, Russia, on 1 March 2015: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moscow_march_for_Nemtsov_2015-03-01_4896.jpg
[4] Wikimedia Commons - Photo from Brussels, Belgium, on 19 May 2018: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pride.be_2018_2018-05-19_15-45-00_ILCE-6500_DSC08597_(27365956717).jpg
image by Tomislav Todorović, 1 May 2022
The partition line from top hoist to bottom fly may also be combined with the color arrangement of pink above black. That was seen at the Mexico City Pride 2014,[1] as well as at the pro-Palestinian protests by the LGBT activists during the Tel Aviv Pride 2018.[2] Such flags were also used by the Anarchists in Warsaw, Poland, in 2018 [3] and 2021.[4]
Tomislav Todorović, 1 May 2022
Sources:
[1] Flickr - Photo from Mexico City, on 28 June 2014: https://www.flickr.com/photos/alfredo/14550020853/
[2] The Palestine Chronicle website: http://www.palestinechronicle.com/lgbt-activists-block-tel-aviv-pride-march-with-pro-palestinian-protest/
[3] Varsovian Anarchist Federation at Facebook - Photo uploaded on 25 February 2018: https://www.facebook.com/fawarszawa/photos/1985778224929593/
[21] Varsovian Anarchist Federation at Facebook - Photo uploaded on 10 October 2021: https://www.facebook.com/fawarszawa/photos/894712370702856/
image by Tomislav Todorović, 1 May 2022
There is also a "non-diagonal" variant, much like that of the Anarcho-syndicalist flag. This black-pink horizontal bicolor was seen in Stockholm, Sweden, at the Stockholm Pride 2008.[22]
Tomislav Todorović, 1 May 2022
Sources:
[1] Flickr - Photo from Stockholm, Sweden, on 2 August 2008: https://www.flickr.com/photos/47948916@N00/2726505222
image by Tomislav Todorović, 15 May 2022
Less frequently, the Anarcha-Queer flags are derived from the Rainbow Flag by combining with the black flag of Anarchism.
The earliest currently known example of their use is from Moscow, Russia, where they were carried in a demonstration on 24 November 2012.[1] These flags were parted from bottom hoist to top fly, black field above the partition line and rainbow stripes, red at the top, beneath it. They were used jointly with the pink-black Anarcha-Queer flags, as well as the other Anarchist flags.[1] Another photo of such use was published in 2017,[2] but could have actually been taken at the same 2014 event, for it also displays one of the banners which were carried there.[1] Another photo of this joint use was taken in Russia by mid-2013, exact place and time not known.[3] The flags were used again in Moscow at the May Day demonstration in 2014.[4] The latest currently known example is from Warsaw, Poland, where the flag was seen in August 2018.[5]
Tomislav Todorović, 15 May 2022
Sources:
[1] Rainbow Association blog - News entry on 24 November 2012: https://radarus.livejournal.com/66231.html
[2] Photo of Anarcha-Queer flags - VKontakte, on 20 March 2017: https://vk.com/wall-115617244_113569?w=wall-115617244_113569
[3] Anarcho-Feminism blog - Entry on 13 June 2013: https://anarchofeminism.noblogs.org/?p=621
[4] Feminism blog - Entry on 1 May 2014: https://feminism.livejournal.com/112132.html
[5] Varsovian Anarchist Federation at Facebook - Photo uploaded on 2 August 2018: https://www.facebook.com/fawarszawa/photos/1000299230144169
image by Tomislav Todorović, 15 May 2022
Another variant of this design was used in Ankara, Turkey, in December 2015, again with the other Anarchist flags, pink-black Anarcha-Queer flags included. All these flags have had the width greater than the length, as is often the case with them in Turkey. In case of the black and rainbow flag, it was parted from bottom hoist to top fly, with the black field above the line again, but the rainbow stripes were arranged vertically now, red being placed next to the hoist.
Tomislav Todorović, 15 May 2022
Source: Pembe Hayat website - news report on on 18 December 2015: http://www.pembehayat.org/haberler/detay/951/index.html
image by Tomislav Todorović, 6 November 2022
The half black, half rainbow-colored Anarcha-Queer flag may also be parted from top hoist to bottom fly. Such flags were seen in Bristol, UK at the Bristol Pride 2022. [1,2] There, black field was above the rainbow stripes (red at the top) again. While the flagstaff of the photographed flag was not actually visible, the flag appearance (the way it was flying) made it possible to reveal the design details.
Tomislav Todorović, 6 November 2022
Sources:
[1] Wikimedia Commons - Photo from Bristol Pride, on 9 July 2022: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bristol_Pride_2022_113550.jpg
[2] Wikimedia Commons - Photo from Bristol Pride, on 9 July 2022: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bristol_Pride_2022_113554.jpg
image by Tomislav Todorović, 6 November 2022
A newly created Anarcha-Queer flag design combines the white, pink and blue transgender flag (Monica Helms' design) and the black flag of Anarchism. The flags with this design have appeared in Bristol, UK, at the Bristol Pride 2022. [1,2,3] They were parted from top hoist to bottom fly, the white-pink-blue part above the black one.
Tomislav Todorović, 6 November 2022
Sources:
[1] Wikimedia Commons - Photo from Bristol Pride, on 9 July 2022: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bristol_Pride_2022_113550.jpg
[2] Wikimedia Commons - Photo from Bristol Pride, on 9 July 2022: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bristol_Pride_2022_113554.jpg
[3] Wikimedia Commons - Photo from Bristol Pride, on 9 July 2022: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bristol_Pride_2022_113313.jpg