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India produced the first recognisable bandanas red or blue squares of cotton or silk, densely decorated with tiny white dots. ‘Bondage’ is from the Middle English ‘bond/a,’ via the Anglo-Latin ‘bondagium,’ meaning serf, one bound to the land.
This last association and the related bandhnati (‘he binds’) is easily reminiscent of the English word ‘bondage.’ (They could be cousins, but they’re not. Bandhna means ‘to tie’ and bandhnu is ‘tie-dye’ in Hindi. The etymology of the word ‘bandana’ runs through Persia and the Indian subcontinent. Tied to a stick, it’s a romantically nostalgic suitcase for what were once called hobos.īandanas had a long history well before they were adopted as coding devices in the mid twentieth century. But it can also conceal identity, suggesting highwaymen, train robbers, revolutionaries, street artists, gangsters, and antifa – among others. It can be worn wet or dry and is suitable for use as a low-tech particle filtration device in dry and dusty climates and dirty conditions. It is protective gear for blue-collar workers and middle-class outdoor enthusiasts. Worn around the neck so that it can be quickly and easily pulled up around the mouth and nose, the bandana evokes cowboys, railroad engineers and miners. They are protective, decorative, hygienic and concealing as well as signifying. These bandanas, their colours and placement, left side or right, became the key material element in a system of coded messages signalling an individual’s sexual proclivities, tastes and kinks: the ‘hanky code.’īandanas are traditionally used as neckwear or as headwear. Simple squares of woven, printed, cotton cloth, bandanas (aka hankies) were worn wrapped around biceps or tucked into the back pockets of denim or leather pants and even occasionally tied around a boot. Courtesy of MoMA.ĪLL THE COLOURS OF the rainbow all the colours of the earth: years before Gilbert Baker designed the rainbow flag, the most recognised symbol of gender and sexual minorities, some were already flagging.
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But others, including Daniel Quasar, said that the Progress Pride flag wasn't intended to replace the original, and argued that it was important to represent marginalised communities.Hal Fischer, Signifiers for a Male Response, from the series Gay Semiotics, 1977. Some people within LGBTQ+ communities said that Gilbert Baker's Pride flag didn't need to be changed, arguing that it was originally designed to be representative of everyone. "The arrow points to the right to show forward movement, while being along the left edge shows that progress still needs to be made." explained Daniel Quasar. It included black, brown, pink, pale blue and white stripes, to represent marginalised people of colour in the LGBTQ+ community, as well as the trans community, and those living with HIV/AIDS. One year later, an artist called Daniel Quasar released a redesign of the Pride flag, called the Progress Pride flag, which was widely shared on social media. In 2017, Philadelphia's Office of LGBT Affairs added black and brown stripes to the Pride flag to recognise people of colour. Over the years the original rainbow flag has been redesigned, with some within LGBTQ+ movements arguing it needed to better represent and reflect more communities.