Let Your Freak Flag Fly!

Hi everyone!

As you might have read in my post about my Leather Vest, I am diving into Leather Culture and learning as I stumble and twirl through.
One of the things I've come across in the leather world is the idea of flagging or the Hankie Code.

Haruka (Sailor Uranus) flagging red ^_^

The first person I ever saw as flagging, or recognized was flagging, was IMsL2013 Sarha and I've since spoken to her and a few other flaggers about various colors, sides, the differences in the Kink community and the LGBT community, etc. Flag History is just as in-depth as any other part of the kink and leather world and it has taken a while for me to wrap my head around it.

What is Flagging? How does it Work?

Flagging, for me, is like a secret handshake. Only people who know the secret handshake will understand the hankie code.

From what I was told, flagging started back in the 1940's-ish, when men came back from the war. Bikers and biker gangs started to pick up and Leather was beginning to form. Since being gay wasn't acceptable, and even illegal in many places, men would signal that they were up for a good time, with another man, by flagging their keys a certain way. A Top or Dominant type would wear his keys out on the left side and a Bottom or Submissive type would wear his keys out on the right side. This is how men would know if someone was available to talk to or just fuck.

The Hankie Code may have actually started out as a joke, when someone put together a color/kink code and sent it out for a laugh...laugh was on him/her as it actually was adopted, adapted and used!

For more on Flag history, check out Diary of a Leatherman

Finding My Flag

When I started looking at the hankie code and reading more about flagging, I of course started to consider what I would flag in accordance to my kinks.

My first flag search was for Age Play. I looked at pink (its for dildo users) and teddy bear (for cuddlers) and even My Little Pony (for pony play), and after weeks of searching I was at a loss. A few friends told me I should just come up with my own flag. However, I just knew there had to be something out there - there were just too many age players in the community for there to be nothing on it.
The closest I came was Hunter Green hanky for Daddy/little boy...but I'm a little girl...

Finally, after weeks of searching and asking questions, I came upon a post by Sarha on Facebook where a friend, Mark, posted that a safety pin was the flag for the ABDL and Littles. I practically jumped for joy as I sent Mark a message thanking him for giving me a clue on my search. Mark did more than give me a clue though, he gave me the link of where he saw it -
ADISC Universal Badge for TB AB DL
A forum discussion for those who want to flag ABDL and Little but don't necessarily want something as loud and proud as the Age Play Pride Flag hanging out their back pocket.

I also plan to flag Fuchsia for spanking...on both sides depending on my mood ^_^

Another Way I Flag

Another way I flag, than on my leather vest or with a hanky out of the pocket, is with the barrette/ribbon code.
This is a code that Uncle Bear came up with on FetLife that Sir Phryxus and I have adopted and use frequently.
I won't paste the code here but I do ask if you're interested, please check it out at The Ribbon Code on fetlife.

Hanky Code Links

Flagging Opinicus Rampant has a really good color chart
Boot Dog has a VERY extensive list
Evil Monk has a code used by the Alaska Leather Tribe in their resources