Nonbinary flag
Four stripes — yellow, white, purple, black — designed by Kye Rowan in 2014.
The nonbinary flag has four horizontal stripes: yellow, white, purple and black, in that order from the top. It was designed by Kye Rowan in February 2014, when they were seventeen, and it spread within weeks.
Each stripe carries a meaning. Yellow is for genders outside the binary entirely, chosen because yellow is the colour that has no equivalent in blue and pink. White is for people with many genders or all of them, being every colour at once. Purple is for genders between or mixing masculine and feminine. Black is for people with no gender.
It was made to sit alongside the genderqueer flag rather than replace it: Rowan designed it after nonbinary people said the genderqueer flag, which is lavender, white and green, did not feel like it represented them specifically. Both are still in use and neither cancelled the other.
It is distinct from the transgender flag, five stripes in light blue, pink and white, designed by Monica Helms in 1999. Many nonbinary people fly both, and many fly only one.
None of these flags is owned or licensed. Helms has said so about hers explicitly, and the same convention holds across the set.
The nonbinary flag is not the transgender flag
They are regularly swapped, including in news coverage. The transgender flag is light blue, pink and white in five stripes and dates from 1999. The nonbinary flag is yellow, white, purple and black in four, and dates from 2014.
They also do different jobs. The trans flag covers everyone under the trans umbrella, nonbinary people included. The nonbinary flag names one part of it specifically, which is why so many people use both.
Saying it well
Say this
- The nonbinary flag: yellow, white, purple, black.
- Designed by Kye Rowan in 2014.
- She flies the nonbinary flag and the trans flag.
- The yellow stripe is for genders outside the binary.
Not this
- The nonbinary flag replaced the genderqueer flag
- Nobody knows who made it
- It is the same as the trans flag
- You need permission to use it
Questions people actually ask
What are the colours of the nonbinary flag?
Yellow, white, purple and black, in four horizontal stripes from top to bottom.
Who designed the nonbinary flag?
Kye Rowan, in February 2014, at the age of seventeen.
What do the stripes mean?
Yellow for genders outside the binary, white for having many or all genders, purple for a mix of masculine and feminine, black for having no gender.
Is the nonbinary flag the same as the genderqueer flag?
No. The genderqueer flag is lavender, white and green and came first; the nonbinary flag was designed to sit alongside it, not replace it.
Can anyone use the nonbinary flag?
Yes. It is not owned or licensed by anyone.