All About the Transgender Symbol

If you’re a part of the transgender and lgbtq community, it’s very helpful to know the origins, use, misconceptions, and more about the transgender symbol. Having knowledge of something as basic as this will be very beneficial, most especially if you’re one of the many trans people who want to achieve gender equality.

Please know that I’m not an expert of gender symbols nor a historian. Everything that will be listed here is based on my research. The reason why I’m writing this is that I know that a lot of the members of My Transgender Date are going to find this helpful.

Most Popular Trans Symbol

A lot of popular symbols are used to identify the transgender community.

These often consist of modified traditional symbols that signify the female and male genders.

The most popular and commonly used symbol (in LGBT Pride) is :

• the one that has a circle with a cross projecting from the bottom (which forms the Venus female symbol)
• an arrow on the top right that depicts the symbol of Mars male
• a struck arrow which combines the female cross and the male arrow which can be found on the top-left
• It’s also mostly rendered in blue with a background of a pink triangle

Origin

The trans symbol originated from the American “Gender Talk” radio station. It came from a drawing by Holly Boswell of North Carolina, USA. She passed this design on to Wendy Pierce of IFGE who also passed it on to Nancy Nangeroni (founder of Gender Talk) for computer generation. However, some say that this symbol has already been used some time before 2002.

Variations of the Most Popular Transgender Symbol

• Variation 1 – A symbol with Venus on the bottom and Mars on the upper right.
• Variation 2 – A symbol with Venus and Mars combined on the upper right.
• Variation 3 – The current trans symbol but with a diagonal strikethrough inside the circle.
• Variation 4 – A symbol with Mercury on top and Venus on the bottom.

Other Symbols Related to the Transgender Community

The symbols for the transgender community are as varied as its members. Apart from the most popular and widely used symbol to represent transgender people, the inverted triangle is also used to symbolize people of the trans community.

Inverted Triangle Symbol

Please know that I don’t have access to everything that represents the transgender community. I’m only going to enlist the most popular and widely used ones.

Inverted Purple Triangle – This symbol details the most popular transgender symbol placed in an inverted purple triangle.

It’s widely used by a lot of transgender groups and the whole community itself.

Don’t confuse it with the Third Reich Triangle Badges that were used to identify homosexual people in the time of the Nazis.

Transphobia Symbol

This is mostly used to debunk the common misconceptions about transgender people and to educate the bigots in regards to the transgender community.

The transphobia symbol looks like the inverted triangle one but it uses an exclamation point in lieu of the most popular trans symbol.

Transgender Yin and Yang

There are 2 most popular variations of the transgender yin and yang symbols.

One showcases the baby pink and baby blue (male or female) combo and the other is utilizing the most common colors associated with the transgender community which is purple.

Trans-Activism Symbol

If you want to fight for your rights as a transgender person, it’s very important for you to know the trans-activism symbol.

This one is using the most popular trans symbol but inside the circle contains a clenched fist figure.

Trans-Health Symbol

Do you work in the field of medicine or are you passionate about transgender health?

If so, you must have this little knowledge of what the trans-health symbol looks like.

It’s quite different from most symbols used by the transgender community.

It’s a circle that has a cross and arrow pointing to the lower right instead of the traditional figures that are most commonly used to represent trans people.

Transgender Flag

Apart from the transgender symbol, the more prominent thing that you will see is the trans pride flag. I personally like the design of the flag as it has very relaxing colors and they represent the fragments of my past and my present.

The transgender flag pride has 5 stripes which consist of the colors

• baby blue
• baby pink
• and white

Origin

The Transgender Pride Flag was created by a trans woman named Monica Helms from the USA. It was designed in 1999 and first appeared at a pride parade which was held in 2000 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Meaning

Helms described it as :

The stripes at the top and bottom are light blue, the traditional color for baby boys. The stripes next to them are pink, the traditional color for baby girls. The stripe in the middle is white, for those who are transitioning or consider themselves having a neutral or undefined gender.

Uses

Transgender flags and other pride flags are mostly used in:

• movements
• celebrations
• parades
• commemorations
• and more

They’re also used in the Transgender Day of Remembrance and Transgender Awareness Week in the UK and the US.

Transgender Flag Variations

There are other variations of the transgender flag. A Black Transgender Flag variant of it was created by a black trans activist and writer named Raquel Williams. This particular flag replaces the white stripe with a black one to add black trans people’s struggles with racial discrimination in the mix. Other variations are listed below.

• Lindsay Design
• Andrew Design
• Kaleidoscope
• Israeli

Please know that these symbols and flags were created to represent the transgender community. Nothing has more weight or is better than the other and you may choose the variation that you feel is the best to represent yourself. Kindly don’t use them in vain.

The most important thing for you to remember is that no matter what hue, figure, and configuration you choose, you MUST carry and RAISE your transgender flag with PRIDE.

Did you learn anything from this All About the Transgender Symbol guide? Did I miss any important information? If so, kindly share this and join the conversation by writing a comment below.

Simply looking for love but stumbled upon here? Go to the world’s best trans dating site and see who’s in store for you.

xx

Amanda