My proposal for a mlm / nlm / vincian / achillean flag. I am aware there are plenty of other flags out there, but I just wanted to do my own take! (Also, I designed this a while ago, I just decided I should upload it here).
This is a flag for anybody who identifies as men-loving-men / mlm, nonbinary-loving-men / nlm, vincian, achillean, etc. I will not gatekeep anybody from using this flag for not being explicitly masc-aligned or otherwise strictly tied to manhood as gender is complicated and there are many blurred lines and grey areas. Anybody who relates to the mlm / nlm experience can use the flag if they feel it fits them.
Stripe / color meanings under the cut!
Brown Stripe - Represents BIPOC in our community who were at the forefront of our fight for equality and the originators of much of what we now consider to be LGBTQ+ and gay / mlm culture. We must never dismiss the unique intersection of oppression faced by queer people of color. I also use it here to represent healthy masculinity, as love between men - romantic, platonic, familial, and otherwise - is essential to combating toxic masculinity. I specifically use the brown stripe for this as many men of color have their masculinity either diminished or demonized due to racism, and embracing their masculinity is a display of courage and self love in the face of oppression.
Pink Stripe - Comes from the original 1978 rainbow pride flag designed by Gilbert Baker, intended to represent the gay and lesbian communities as a whole. I use it here to represent love and sexuality, as it did on the original iteration of the flag. It also represents gay men in our community, in honor of the origin of the rainbow pride flag.
Tan Stripe - This color comes from the bear pride flag. I use it here to represent body diversity, body positivity and self love. People of all body types deserve love and respect, and self love is an absolute essential part of our community as its a key part in embracing our true selves.
White Stripe - This stripe represents unity and community. We are all different and have unique experiences, but we unite under common causes and shared experiences. We have a built a community despite hardships and attempts at division. We can never forget our shared history.
Light Blue Stripe - This color comes from the trans pride flag. It represents the gender diversity and huge variance of gender expression within our community. Transgender men, trans masculine people, nonbinary people of all kinds. Some are masculine, feminine, androgynous, and anything in-between or completely outside of that. There’s far too many nuances to police labels or try to restrict who is apart of our community.
Dark Blue Stripe - This represents our strength and perseverance in this face of adversity. We have existed all throughout human history and despite constant attempts to erase us from history or destroy us altogether, we have persisted. We will never back down. This color was also borrowed from the bisexual pride flag and represents all multi-spec mlm / nlm whether they be bi, pan, etc. Love for people of other genders does not diminish same or similar gender love and this has always been apart of our fabric.
Purple / Indigo Stripe - Finally, this stripe represents our ceaseless courage and pride. It takes courage to embrace who you are, and even more so to have Pride in it. We do not ever have to be ashamed of who we are. This color was also borrowed from the asexual pride flag, and represents all asexual and aromantic spectrum folks in our community. Asexual, aromantic, demi-, grey-, etc people have no reason to feel shame for their unique mlm / nlm experience.
NLM River - a digital painting of a river based on the nlm (nonbinary loving men) flag.
[Image description: a light blue river with bits of pink and purple reflecting the sky above. Pinkish light shows the reflection of a sunrise at the bottom left of the river in the image. Surrounding the river are green, grassy banks covered in pink and purple flowers. The colors are themed to the pink, purple, blue, light green, and green of the nlm flag.]
