The aromantic flag has five horizontal stripes: dark green, light green, white, gray and black. The greens represent aromanticism and the aro spectrum, picked because green is the opposite of romance-coded red. White stands for nonromantic relationships and attraction, and gray and black represent the range of sexual orientations aro people have.
On Nov. 16, 2014, Tumblr user Cameron Whimsy posted the aromantic flag most people fly today, according to Flags of the World. It was the third aro design.
Aromantic Flag Colors and the Meaning of Each Stripe
| Stripe | Color | Meaning (AUREA and Flags of the World) | Hex code (Flag Color Codes) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (top) | Dark green | Aromanticism | #3DA542 |
| 2 | Light green | The aromantic spectrum | #A7D379 |
| 3 | White | Nonromantic relationships and attraction | #FFFFFF |
| 4 | Gray | The sexuality spectrum | #A9A9A9 |
| 5 (bottom) | Black | The sexuality spectrum | #000000 |
The meanings above follow the Aromantic-spectrum Union for Recognition, Education, and Advocacy (AUREA), an aro advocacy group that says green was picked as the color opposite red. AUREA notes white is sometimes called “the platonic stripe.”
Hex codes: Flag Color Codes. Light green varies most from flag to flag, Flags of the World says.
Where Aro Flag Guides Disagree on the Gray Stripe
Other guides assign more specific meanings to gray. This article follows AUREA’s explanation: gray and black together recognize the range of sexual orientations among aromantic people.
Three Aromantic Flag Versions, From Orange to White
| Version | Date | Designer | Stripes, top to bottom |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | Unknown, likely before 2014 | Unknown | Green, yellow, orange, black |
| Second | Feb. 7, 2014 | Cameron Whimsy | Dark green, light green, yellow, gray, black |
| Third (current) | Nov. 16, 2014 | Cameron Whimsy | Dark green, light green, white, gray, black |
Flags of the World says the first design’s author and date aren’t known. Its stripes: green for aromanticism, yellow for friendship, orange for gray-romantic people, black for alloromantic people who reject traditional ideas of romance.
In Whimsy’s Feb. 7, 2014, version, the yellow may have stood for lithromanticism, FOTW says: romantic attraction without wanting it returned. It gives two reasons yellow became white, the “possibility of sensory problems to certain viewers” and yellow’s meaning varying between cultures.
FOTW dates the earliest known real-life use to San Francisco Pride in 2017. Its one upside-down example, black on top, flew at Twin Cities Pride in Minneapolis on June 23, 2019.
What Aromantic Means, According to AUREA and the OED
Merriam-Webster’s list of gender and identity terms describes an aromantic person as someone who experiences little or no romantic desire or attraction, and notes they may still feel sexual attraction. The Oxford English Dictionary added “aromantic” in June 2018, USA Today reported. Katherine Connor Martin, then head of U.S. dictionary operations for the OED’s publisher, told the Associated Press that changing ideas about sexuality and relationships had brought in “aromantic” along with “heteromantic,” “biromantic” and “homoromantic.”
Asexual people have their own black, gray, white and purple flag, covered in Gayety’s asexual flag guide, and people who are both fly the aroace flag.
Demiromantic, Grayromantic and Other Green-Striped Flags
Flags of the World says a gray-aromantic flag appeared on Tumblr in 2014, built by swapping the purple in the gray-asexual flag for green. It credits Tumblr user Queer As Cat with a 2015 demiromantic flag that does the same to the demisexual flag. UC Santa Barbara’s pride flags glossary credits the same user, Vesper (@QueerAsCat), with both the demiromantic and grayromantic flags in March 2015, so the two sources disagree on when the gray-aro design appeared.
For every other Pride flag, from the rainbow to the trans flag, see Gayety’s guide to every Pride flag. The gay culture section has more identity explainers.
Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week and When to Fly the Flag
The first Aromantic Awareness Week ran Nov. 10 to 17, 2014, the week Whimsy posted the current flag. In 2015 it moved to late February and became Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week, its organizers say. It generally runs the first full week, starting on a Sunday, after Valentine’s Day, and volunteers from Aromantic-Official, AUREA and the wider aro community manage it. It began, they say, largely as space for aro people around a holiday that’s “such a universally romanticized event.” Hang the greens that Sunday.
Aro Flag FAQ: Colors, Creator and Versions
What do the colors of the aromantic flag mean?
Dark and light green stand for aromanticism and the aro spectrum. White represents nonromantic relationships and attraction, and gray and black cover aro people’s range of sexual orientations, per AUREA.
Who created the aromantic flag?
Tumblr user Cameron Whimsy posted the current flag on Nov. 16, 2014, after a yellow-striped version that February. Who made the first four-stripe aro flag is unknown.
Why did the aromantic flag change?
Flags of the World says Whimsy’s yellow stripe became white because yellow could cause sensory problems for some viewers and means different things across cultures.
Why is the aromantic flag green?
AUREA and Flags of the World both say green was picked because it’s the opposite of red, the color most tied to romance.
What is the difference between aromantic and asexual?
Aromantic means little or no romantic attraction; asexual means little or no sexual attraction. Someone who is both may call themselves aroace.
