Yes, a ‘straight’ Pride flag exists: and it’s as ugly as the politics behind it
Mark Sahady and John Hugo (l-r) are seen at the Boston Straight Pride Parade and Rally organized by Super Happy Fun America on August 31, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Paul Marotta/Getty Images)
In case you were wondering, yes, it turns out that a ‘straight’ Pride flag does exist. More than one, in fact.
LGBTQ+ flags are bold and colourful symbols in the community that represent the array of included identities.
There are a number of umbrella flags, one of the most common being the Progress Pride flag which is inclusive of intersex, asexual, and Two-Spirit identities.
These flags are intended to show that the bearer supports LGBTQ+ rights. Individual flags showcasing different identities are also popular, for example lesbian or pansexual flags.
Is there a ‘straight’ Pride flag?
In the same vein as people who repeatedly ask “when is International Men’s Day?” on International Women’s Day, and say things like “All Lives Matter”, instead of Black Lives Matter, we can confirm that there is a ‘straight’ Pride flag and it looks like you’d expect: a copy of the Pride flag but wiped of colour and meaning.
The most common iteration of the straight Pride flag is just a flag consisting of black and white horizontal bars, like the one above: an attempt at copying the classic LGBTQ+ Pride flag with no flair or creativity.
Another variation also has the male and female gender symbols placed in the centre of the flag. This is sometimes a little more colourful, as you can see above.
It’s also sometimes referred to as a “heterosexual flag”, but all of the variations have one thing in common: they are all markers of Straight Pride, a countermovement to LGBTQ+ Pride.
Why does a ‘straight’ Pride flag exist?
The ‘straight’ Pride flag was created as a direct attempt to mimic and troll the Pride flag.
Though the ‘straight’ Pride flag isn’t circulated with any official recognition, the Russian political party United Russia, which Vladimir Putin was part of, displayed the flag on Peter and Fevronia Day (Day of Family, Love and Faithfulness) in 2015.
The act was a response to the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the US earlier in the same year.
There have also been some attempts at conducting a ‘straight’ Pride march – like the 2019 march in Boston led by Super Happy Fun America – though there is no uniform community organisation for national marches.
The reactionary ‘straight’ Pride marches have been taking place since the 1980s, often used as an anti-gay stance to ridicule the LGBTQ+ community.
More recently, there’s also been the introduction of the supposed ‘super straight’ identity.
The label refers to heterosexuals who would never have a sexual relationship with transgender people which has built traction online, especially on Reddit and 4chan.
The flag – one-half orange and the other black, mimicking PornHub’s logo – is linked to online hate speech and transphobic campaigns.
Is there a straight ally flag?
There is also a straight ally Pride flag which combines the straight ally flag with the rainbow colours from the LGBTQ+ Pride flag that is sometimes shaped as an ‘A’, representing allies.
The exact origin of the flag remains unknown, but it’s believed to have begun circulating in the late 2000s.
The flag intends to represent allyship by straight people with the LGBTQ+ flag, combining indicators of each group.
