BDSM Rights Flag

BDSM Rights Flag (Tanos)

BDSM Rights Flag (Quagmire)

The BDSM Rights Flag measure five feet by three feet. The flag is inspired by the Leather Pride Flag^[wp] and Quagmyr's BDSM Emblem^[wipi], but is specifically intended to represent the concept of BDSM Rights and to be without the other symbols' restrictions against commercial use. For copyright reasons, the BDSM emblem has been modified by Tanos.

BDSM Rights Flag The BDSM Rights Flag is intended to represent the belief that people who's sexuality or relationship preferences include Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, or Sadism and Masochism ("BDSM") deserve the same human rights[wp] as everyone else, and should not be discriminated against for pursuing BDSM with consenting adults. The flag is inspired by the Leather Pride Flag[wp] and Quagmyr's BDSM Emblem[wipi], but is specifically intended to represent the concept of BDSM Rights and to be without the other symbols' restrictions against commercial use. It's designed to be recognisable by people familiar with either the Leather Pride Flag or BDSM Triskelion (or Triskele[wp]) as "something to do with BDSM"; and to be distinctive whether reproduced in full colour, or in black and white (or another pair of colours.) See our Other Symbols page for a discussion of the various BDSM and Leather emblems. If you support the above statement on human rights and anti-discrimination, you may use the BDSM Rights Flag design on your own websites, publications, T-shirts, mugs, whatever - whether for personal use or for commercial gain. We believe that BDSM vendors, event organisers and publishers are an important part of the various BDSM communities, and that anything they do which publicises the idea of BDSM Rights should be encouraged. You do not need to ask our permission to use the design or the image files we make available. How to show your support Using the BDSM Rights Flag image and explaining what it means promotes the idea of BDSM Rights. We have free prebuilt flag images, and a live flag maker program to create custom images for you to use. On a website or a publication, the best way to publicise BDSM Rights is to link to or reproduce the address www.bdsmrights.com which directs people to our main page, and its list of BDSM Rights campaigns and organisations.

– bdsmrights.com

Other BDSM Symbols The "Leather Pride Flag" and the "BDSM Emblem" have become widely known in some BDSM communities. This page outlines their history, and some of the rationale behind the BDSM Rights Flag. Leather Pride Flag Leather Pride Flag The Leather Pride Flag was created by the late Tony DeBlase in 1989, and first displayed at the International Mr. Leather competition in Chicago that year. (DeBlase's own account of the flag[archived February 6, 2007] is reproduced at the Leather Archives & Museum) The flag is a variation on the United States flag, with red and white stripes replaced by black and blue, and the field of stars in the top left hand corner replaced by a red heart: "The flag is composed of nine horizontal stripes of equal width. From the top, and from the bottom, the stripes alternate black and royal blue. The central stripe is white. In the upper left quadrant of the flag is a large red heart." DeBlase offered no specific meanings for the components of the flag (although "black and blue" has an obvious interpretation): "I will leave it to the viewer to interpret the colors and symbols." However, the flag's copyright is owned by a commercial operation ("Desmodus Inc.") and according to DeBlase "anyone wishing to use it for purely commercial purposes must receive our written approval. However, we welcome members of the Leather/SM community to use the design for flags, banners, pins, T-shirts, printed material, etc. to be distributed free or sold at cost, or to be used for fund raising for not-for-profit causes that benefit leather men and women." Since 1989, the flag has become very widely used in the Gay Leather community, and many Leather shops and bars fly it outside their premises, use it on their literature or even sell mugs and T-shirts displaying it (it's not clear how many of these have sought permission from the copyright owner.) However, the flag has achieved very little prominence, or even recognition, among the wider "pansexual" (ie largely straight and bi) BDSM communities. Quagmyr's BDSM Emblem BDSM Emblem by Quagmyr After discussions on an AOL message board, Quagmyr proposed a design for a BDSM Emblem[archived February 6, 2007] in 1995. His emblem was originally inspired by the Roissy rings in the "Story of O"[wp], although he later decided the Roissy design had spirals rather than "teardrops." In fact the Triskelion is an ancient symbol used by many cultures, including Oriental variants with Ying-Yang[wp] style dots or eyes. Quagmyr naturally realised it was impossible for him to copyright a design with thousands of years of history, and instead claims ownership of one very specific emblem: "The rims and spokes are of a color indicating metal. The rims and spokes are of uniform width with the arms rotating clockwise. The inner fields are black. The holes in the fields are truly holes and not dots." He sells merchandise featuring the Emblem, and allows other people to use his specific emblem for "non-profit cultural, educational and artistic use within the BDSM community." However, written permission is required for any commercial use of the Emblem (including fund raising by non-profit BDSM organisations.) It's probably due to these restrictions, at least in part, that many variants of the ancient triskelion have been used on BDSM websites and other media instead of Quagmyr's. So, unlike the Leather Pride Flag, no single colour scheme is universally used. Quagmyr's site includes a helpful page showing other triskelions and explaining how they differ from the design he claims rights over. (At this point we are legally required to reproduce this copyright statement: "The BDSM Emblem is copyright 1995 by Quagmyr@aol.com who maintains the copyright in order to protect the symbol. It is freely available for all educational and non-commercial use within the BDSM community without charge.") BDSM Rights Flag The BDSM Rights Flag we're promoting, uses the colour scheme and stripes from the Leather Pride Flag[wp], but replaces the curves of the red heart with the curves of a red triskelion. This combination aims for a symbol which is recognisable by people familiar with either the Leather Pride Flag or BDSM use of the Triskelion, but without the commercial restrictions associated with the other designs, and not under the control of any individual or organisation. Furthermore, it specifically represents the concept of "BDSM Rights": the belief that people who's sexuality or relationship preferences include Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, or Sadism and Masochism ("BDSM") deserve the same human rights as everyone else, and should not be discriminated against for pursuing BDSM with consenting adults. If you support our statement on human rights and anti-discrimination, you may use the BDSM Rights Flag design on your own websites, publications, T-shirts, mugs, whatever - whether for personal use or for commercial gain. We believe that BDSM vendors, event organisers and publishers are an important part of the various BDSM communities, and that anything they do which publicises the idea of BDSM Rights should be encouraged. You do not need to ask our permission to use the design or the image files we make available.

– bdsmrights.com