What the flag?

Is this new Pride flag more inclusive, or does it miss the mark?

The mayor of London just made a post to celebrate Trans Day of Visibility, but it has one glaring problem: the Pride flag it features is a design nightmare.

London’s mayor Sadiq Khan took to X, formerly Twitter, to honor trans folks this Sunday. “On #TransDayOfVisibility, we celebrate London’s trans community as they strive to live authentically and safely,” he wrote, accompanied by a picture of a Pride flag flying high. Everything seems fine on first glance — but a closer look at the flag reveals something strange.

In addition to the chevron with new stripes added to the Progress Pride flag to recognize Black, Brown, and trans folks, the flag Khan shared has a second chevron on the right side, featuring the colors of the bisexual flag.

Apparently, this flag has flown in London for years: Khan previously shared a picture of the flag in 2020. But its design has the queer folks of the internet confused. Bisexual people are already represented under the rainbow umbrella. The trans, Black, and Brown stripes were added to highlight underrepresented segments of the LGBTQ+ community — so is the city of London just taking a hard stance for bi visibility? Because if so, bi people never asked for anything of the sort.

Then there’s the objective truth that the flag is getting way too busy. From a design perspective, a second chevron is a visual headache. Why not simply fly the bi flag alongside the Progress Pride flag, rather than cramming every flag possible into one square of fabric?

On the bright side, the new flag seems tailor-made to be ridiculed, and queer folks are having a field day doing just that.

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