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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.
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 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.
After discussions on an AOL message board, Quagmyr proposed a
design for
a BDSM Emblem in 1995. His emblem was originally inspired by the Roissy
rings in the "Story of O", 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 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.")
The BDSM Rights Flag we're promoting, uses the
colour scheme and stripes from the Leather Pride Flag, 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 whose
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.
See the main flag page for more about the flag,
free images you can use yourself, and a flag maker program to create images
to your own specifications.
There's more background information in the
Leather Pride
Flag,
BDSM Emblem and
BDSM Rights Flag
articles in the Wikipedia.
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