Polyamorous People Need a Better Flag. Here’s How We’re Making it Happen.

So, you want to know how PolyamProud is planning to design a new flag to help the polyamorous community to stand their ground, be proud of who they are, and, perhaps, advance our rights and visibility? You came to the right place.

Before we start, I'll not be going into some more primordial questions like "How did this project start?" or "Why do we need a flag?", but feel free to check co-founder Kristian Einstman's interview on Polyamory Uncensored, my other blog post, or this Instagram post to find the answers you’re looking for.

With that said, let's get to it! Our plan is to revise the polyamorous pride flag in five simple steps:

1. Choosing our representatives

2. Designing, revising, and designing

3. Holding the vote

4. Making it free

5. Telling the world

Pretty straightforward, right? The best part is you can help make it happen throughout the entire process. Here's how:

1. How we’re choosing pride flag selection committee representatives.

First things first. We don't want to design (another) pride flag based just on the opinion of western white men—this community is far more diverse than that. Because of that, we are searching for influential voices all around the world, in as many different communities, lifestyles, ethnicities, fields of expertise, socioeconomic backgrounds, levels of education, and gender identities as possible in order to form a committee of fewer than 20 people, but is as representative as it can be. This also means that we, from the PolyamProud initiative, are not going to be part of this committee.

To ensure we’re recruiting people the community trusts and admires, we’re looking to you for nominations. Who do you believe will choose a flag design that represents you? You don't need to know them, just to point out who they are and why they are important to you — leave the outreach to us.

Our criteria for committee candidates are:

• Being polyamorous or non-monogamous – We want the representatives to be part of the community. Someone who has experienced some of the challenges and wonders we have, and who understands us deeply.

• Having a history of activism, advocacy, or other labor – Because we need people who we know will continue to stand up and fight for our rights, awareness and visibility.

• Being recognized and respected – So we can have more credibility and reach within both the non-monogamous communities and their peers.

Got someone in mind? Send us a direct message on Instagram or comment on this post below.

2. Next, we’ll draft some solid designs for the polyamorous flag.

The experienced designers in our group will not only consider inclusivity and non-monogamous symbology in their designs, but also follow NAVA's flag design manual, and work with our committee to come up with 2-6 options for the community to vote on.

We won't be putting out an official call for submissions (because even without doing so, we’ve been getting a lot!). Instead, we will continue to promote discussions, ask for your opinions, invite you to send ideas and feedback every step of the way, in order to have our designers produce designs that feel great to you.

If you are interested in collaborating with these discussions, don't forget to follow us. Now, if you think you have what it takes to help with the design, send us a direct message on Instagram and share some of your work—we want as many perspectives as possible.

3. Once the committee narrows down the field, the designs go to a global vote.

With the help of Captain of PolyPirates and his crew, we are building a robust, safe, accessible and trustworthy voting platform to ensure the results of the vote reflect the desires of the community. This custom-built platform is now in its testing phase, and is projected to be complete well in advance of the vote.

The date of the official vote is pending, but we’ve been shooting for November 2021. Reaching that ambitious goal will depend on how quickly we can assemble the committee, drum up community interest, and come up with designs that are worth your attention. What we know for sure is that it’ll happen before June 2022, so you can have the new polyamorous pride flag in your hands when Pride Month comes around.

Regardless of when in the coming months the vote takes place, it will last for an entire month—enough time, we hope, for you to share it with your polycule, partners, friends, peers, colleagues, neighbors, or pretty much anyone who you consider part of the non-monogamous community.

We know that within the non-monogamous umbrella there are many different perspectives, lifestyles, and much more. We also know that polyamorists aren't exactly known for "choosing just one". Actually, there's a lot we can discuss about this topic, so Kristian already made another blog post that I would really recommend you to read. TL; DR: we don't want you to let go of the symbols you love and feel comfortable with, but to join us in this cause for unified representation.

4. As soon as we announce the winning flag design, we’ll make it free to all.

What does that mean? We will register the flag design under a creative commons license, ensuring that it will be available and accessible to the public. Forever. Also, even though it may not make it onto the flag, the five-heart symbol we've designed to represent this initiative is already available for public use, here. It’s a gesture from us to you that we’re not interested in or poised to profit from this initiative—we just want a better flag for everyone.

And as everything we are making is supposed to be free for everyone, we rely entirely on donations and our own personal resources. This is a necessary evil, as we see it, to cover the costs of our infrastructure, website hosting, tools/software, and paid media. We nor the committee won't benefit financially from any of the resources gathered, so you are more than welcome to contribute if you can, or ask us anything you can think of about the project budget.

5. Finally, we’re going to tell the whole world about polyamory’s new flag.

A flag doesn’t do anyone any good if no one’s flying it. That’s why, after the vote and before June 2022, we’re going to reach out to as many communities, wikis, marketers, media, news, and merchandisers as possible to ensure the design you choose gets produced as widely as possible, so that it’s as available and accessible as possible. We’re giving our design to you and to all creators and makers so they can use and sell it freely.

All of this is so, at Pride 2022, we can show up and show out for the polyamorous community, and let the world know we’re here. We want this flag so we can show who we are and why we deserve rights and representation.

This project has been a huge challenge from the start, but we are so happy with the connections we've made and support we are receiving from every corner of the non-monogamous community. You folks are amazing!

Let us know what you think in the comments! Don’t forget to sign up for email notifications about the vote on our site.