This is my proposal for a Disability Pride Flag

[capri0mni]

[Image description: A black flag diagonally crossed from the top of the hoist to the bottom of the fly by a four-color "Lightning bolt" in stripes of blue, gold, green and red (three long sections running from hoist to fly, alternating with two short sections from fly to hoist), Description ends]

My “Artist’s Statement” about this Flag:

1) The black field:

Black has three significant meanings:

First: the color of mourning for all those disabled people who have been murdered in the name of “mercy.”

Second: the color of the pirates’ “Jolly Roger” flag, representing our determination to steal our lives back from those public (and private) ‘authorities,’ who use their power in an attempt keep us marginalized.

Third: A reference to the Nazi Black Triangle badge, which was used to identify those whom the Nazis considered “antisocial“ and which has been adopted in Britain to protest the government’s austerity measures against the Disabled.

2) The “Lightning Bolt” motif:

Diagonal lines have been traditionally used in the flags of former colonies, to represent breaking free from colonial powers (empire nations tend to have flags dominated by horizontal and vertical lines). And Disabled people’s lives have long been ‘colonized’ by the medical, religious, and educational establishments.

The zigzag shape represents how the Disabled people must continually navigate around the structural and attitudinal barriers erected throughout normate society, and also the creative, ‘lateral,’ thinking we have to use to solve problems each day.

3) The individual colors represent broad categories of disabilities:

Blue: mental illness disabilities

Yellow: Cognitive and intellectual disabilities

Green: Sensory perception disabilities

Red: Physical disabilities

---
So -- would you fly this flag? I really am curious.

Comments

[sqbr]

And Disabled people’s lives have long been ‘colonized’ by the medical, religious, and educational establishments.

This feels really appropriative.

Everything else seems ok. I don't really do flags, though, so am not the best person to judge. Closest I come is rainbow-ing it up a bit for some queer events.

[alatefeline]

Yes. Yes I would, although I'm not certain I have the right to do so (I don't knows if I can call myself disabled if I've been stealth about my autism at every job I've ever had and still managed to work full time). But your explanations really spoke to me.

[capri0mni]

Oh, my dear purr person:

You have the right. Whether it is safe for you to voice that right, right now is another matter.

But Autism is a real disability (it's the gold streak, right there), and the fact that you have to be stealthy about it out of fear of losing your job is evidence of how our lives are colonized.

So you bet your bippy you have the right.

[maramcreates]

I'm seconding capri0mni's response to you. You absolutely have the right to claim the identity, and no one can tell you any different.

[maramcreates]

Yes, I would wave this flag far and wide.

As far as I can tell, you've managed to address all of the issues that folks brought up the last time you talked about creating such a flag. Thank you :D!

[capri0mni]

Yeah. I can see how that wording is problematic.

But I still believe in the underlying concept -- that of "Disability Culture."

When that phrase was coined 30-ish years ago, it was criticized as impossible, because disabled people don't share a common language, and each disabled person is isolated within their generation, and knowledge is not passed down from parent to child, etc..

But the argument for the reality of Disability Culture is that, if you look across borders of both space and time (i.e. through history), you find that disabled people share many of the same problems and attitudes toward solutions that are analogous to any other, traditionally accepted, forms of culture (noting, of course, that no culture is monolithic).

And, seeing that, worldwide, people with moderate-to-severe disabilities make up more than one in seven of the world's population, we certainly have the numbers to populate a nation, if one existed.

And as individuals, people with disabilities are often denied autonomy over our own bodies, and our rights and responsibilities are often laid out not by the governments of the places we live, but by the policies written up by committees we did not elect.

So, yes, equating life with a disability to life within a colonized nation is problematic, it's the strongest analogy I can think of at the moment.

I may come up with something better soon (possibly in the shower). When I do, I'll rewrite that paragraph.

[capri0mni]

\o/

After reading about The Black Triangle campaign in Britain, I agreed spiralsheep's point that it should somehow be included.

At first, I thought of doing a white flag with the black triangle in the canton (upper corner, where the stars are in the U.S. flag), with the colored lightning band coming out of it -- like a rainbow through a prism.

But then, the massacre at Tsukui Yamiyuri-en happened, and I realized that if a white version of flag were on a flag pole when the wind wasn't blowing, it would look just like a surrender flag -- and: oh, HELL NO!

When I sat down at the computer to draw this flag for naarmamo, I tried putting the black triangle inside a white circle inside the canton. But then, trying to fit the rest of the design into field, so that it's clear and legible on a small scale was becoming a real headache.

And the first principle of good flag design is: Keep it Simple.

[alatefeline]

*purrs thoughtfully*

I came back to this this morning panicking and thinking about explaining myself out of existence. Thank you.

[alatefeline]

*purrs thoughtfully*

[capri0mni]

^^^That^^^ is why we absolutely need to normalize the idea of "Disability Pride."

(*Scritches in your favorite spot*)

[alatefeline]

*listening*

(*purrs and nudges to thank you for skritches*)

[capri0mni]

^_^

Here's one of the best arguments in defense of "Disability Pride" I've ever come across:

Blogging Against Disablism Day 2012: A recall to pride (YouTube)

LIKE!

[callibr8]

Saw this, immediately started trying to translate to heraldic blazon in my head, something like, "four conjoined lightning bolts, sinister: azure, or, vert, rouge; on a field sable" ... or something like that.

I like the simplicity and the symbolism, well enough to ignore the fact that it violates the "no color-on-color" rule of medieval heraldry, and for me that's quite a concession.

Another thing to like about the simplicity is that it would be easy to do up as embroidery or applique. :-)

Re: LIKE!

[capri0mni]

Thank you!

That's a great compliment.

It also breaks a couple rules of vexillology (flag design), as well. But the "Disability community" is so broad and diverse, something had to give, if the flag were to be inclusive and meaningful for all ('cause if it isn't, there's no point).

Another thing to like about the simplicity is that it would be easy to do up as embroidery or applique. :-)

...Or with colored duct-tape and black poster board bought on the fly from the DIY store the night before a rally, for your picket sign or sandwich board ;-)

I actually did this in MS Paint, with only the rectangle and straight line tool (and copy/paste/flip horizontal). The fussiest part of the design was figuring out the proportions (the angles, and lengths of the zigs vs. zags). But I figure if people don't get the proportions exactly right, the image is distinctive enough to still be recognizable.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi there, came over from the Rolling Around in My Head blog. I like a lot of things about this design, the black background, the zigzag, the simplicity... but I have one problem. I wish there were an additional line for chronic illness. Now, I realize that chronic illness can often be counted under either physical disability or mental illness, but I know that a lot of chronically ill people don't even feel addressed when someone just says "disability" (the services for disabled students here are called "services for disabled and chronically ill students" because otherwise many chronically ill students won't use them). Now, I'm chronically ill and I definitely feel addressed when people say disabled, but it's taken me a long time to reach that point, and when you say "physical disability" I just don't think of chronic illness. So even though I know I'm meant to be included in this flag design, I just don't feel included.

[capri0mni]

Hi there!

Thanks for your response!

So: Another stripe seems in order. But what color?

There's white (which is the last of the six "Standard" flag colors, and the only one I haven't already used...

Or... how about "transparent" (in other words, a black stripe), in between the green and gold? To represent (and protest) the fact that chronic illness is treated as though it's invisible?

Or should I break free from the standard color set, and choose a different color -- gray, perhaps?

[(Anonymous)]

I'm glad you're taking my feedback! I don't know anything about flag design, but since many pride flags (for example the rainbow flag, the bi pride flag, the trans pride flag...) contain additional colours to the standard colours you mentioned I'm not sure it's important in this case.

So, what colour? I'm not sure about white, which I tend to associate with purity, absence, death or surrender, and none of these colours make sense. The idea of keeping it in black is interesting, but at the same time it sets it apart quite a bit, I'm not sure I like that. How about purple? It combines the colours of physical disability and mental illness and many people with chronic illnesses see their mental health affected as well as their physical abilities. By the same token, you could also go with orange because a lot of people with chronic illnesses experience memory and concentration problems. Also, I like purple and orange.

Of course, these are only my humble suggestions, maybe finding a few more people with chronic illnesses to talk to would be a good idea.

[capri0mni]

since many pride flags (for example the rainbow flag, the bi pride flag, the trans pride flag...) contain additional colours to the standard colours you mentioned I'm not sure it's important in this case.

Well, this is true. :-)

I'm not sure about white

Yeah... me neither. In flags, it's also the color of surrender, which... No!

How about purple? It combines the colours of physical disability and mental illness

Now, there's an idea! It's also a good color for contrast and visibility.

maybe finding a few more people with chronic illnesses to talk to would be a good idea.

True, that. I have several spoonie followers on my tumblr dash. I'll open the question up to them.

Again, thanks for your feedback!

[(Anonymous)]

If you continue the discussion on tumblr, I'd love to follow. What's your tumblr name? Mine is strangestructures.tumblr.com

[capri0mni]

Nifty! I'll follow you...

My Tumblr handle is AegipanOmicorn.tumblr.com.


ETA: Here's the link to my primary flag discussion thread:

https://aegipanomnicorn.tumblr.com/post/153573500833/kick-a-disability-pride-flag-lets-do-this