#autistic flags

[ipso-faculty]

I, an intersex autistic, want to complain about an autistic flag

This time I'm not complaining about using the white infinity symbol of the Métis. I wanna complain about this flag, made in 2021 by Autistic Empire:

This one upsets me as an intersex person. I get that the designers wanted to make a flag that's different from the neurodiversity flag, and that gold is a common choice for autism (Au = Gold).

The problem it's an icon on a solid golden yellow background, and that is Intersex Flag Territory.

For my perisex readers, these are intersex flags. The one on the left was made in 2013 by Morgan Carpenter so you'll hear people refer to it as the Carpenter flag sometimes:

A common technique in deriving flags for "intersex plus X" is to replace the purple ring with another icon in the same colour. Like these! (Note the intersex autism flag.)

So using the flag logic I'm used to for intersex flags, a rainbow infinity on a solid gold background means.... neurodivergent intersex!

I've talked to a few other intersex people who had the same reaction. It's kind of upsetting - intersex is so frequently invisible and sidelined at the queer table. My *emotional* reaction to the Autistic Empire flag has been "really, we intersex people can't have one thing?". (This is an emotional response not necessarily a rational response.)

Also annoying me is how Autistic Empire presents their 2021 flag on their Autistic Pride Day page beside the history that Autistic Pride Day started in 2005, which apparently gives people the idea that the Autistic Empire flag was created in 2005.

Best I can tell, this was the 2005 flag that Aspies for Freedom created. I know it was a rainbow infinity on a white background but I'm not 100% this was their design. (If you know please let me know!)

These oldest ND/autistic flags I can find with clear provenance are from 2013 and 2016:

The Autistic Empire design was created in 2021 by taking a 2016 neurodiversity infinity symbol design and sticking it on the gold background.

The prospect of solid gold backgrounds taking off as an autistic flag theme is scary to me. I've seen how queer Métis now have to explain that the Métis queer pride flag is not an autistic flag.

In my eyes, it fits into the greater trend of autistic flags being insensitive of other minorities' flags (see: the Metis flag). I think we as a community need to do better about this.

My fellow autistics I beg of you when doing flag designs: - google image search - has your idea already been used? Search the keywords you want before making a mock up - also text search on google and tumblr: <keywords> and <flag> - consult recommendations on how make an infinity symbol that does not look Metis - Wikipedia's list of flags by colour combination - once you have a mockup, return to google image search and this time search using the mockup - if you get feedback that your flag design is too similar to another group's flag, use this feedback. The person who is giving you the feedback might be upset, and if so, try to look past their tone and work past any defensiveness you may feel Edit to add: I'm keeping a list of autistic & ND flags that don't use the Metis infinity nor use a solid gold background here. If you know of more please let me know! <3

💛

[bi-sapphics]

can anyone tell me if kittysprites is problematic or if people just prefer iconcupid's palettes for autistic lgbt flags more?? bc i will always prefer the colors of the former and consider them "the original" sorry !!!!!!!!!! they're just so pretty :(( just wondering tho

[ohswampey]

the father, the son, the holy ghost

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Green Flags in Friendships (Autism Edition)

Neurodivergent_lou

[artheresy]

Creating the flags content that I want to see in the world

[canonically-asexual]

Being an adult with hyperfixations is so embarrassing like why am I obsessing over gay pirates I have a mortgage and back pain

[dreamdropsystemarchive]

we out here autistic and trans 🏳️‍⚧️

[nortsauce]

Man screw y’all i think stede is cool >:,(

I really love how inspiring he is. He’s a pure example of understanding your self worth while also knowing when its time to let someone teach you the skills you need to survive. BUT he also knows when someone is being a dick and he is able to stand up for everyone (but struggles to stand up for himself sometimes.)

man practice what you preach. TALK IT THRU DAMMIT.

also like:

look at him :(

💝

[runeehyst]

Whale Shark Pride pt.1 🐳🏳️‍🌈

[heartxloves]

𓏵 Cat Autistic …

A flag for autistic individuals who have a connection to cats, or whose autism is directly related to or influenced by cats. Alternatively, a flag for autistic beings who are also cats.

Made By : 望愛， 🐰．

Requested By : Anon．

[werewolf-transgenderism]

*transgenders your pirates*

[starflungwaddledee]

Who wins starstruck or a aroace guy

both of them, because she's also aroace just like me!

actually while i'm at it, here's the little animation i was working on for pride month but never got around to posting!

in my self indulgent aroace worldbuilding i like to imagine that labels for orientations and genders are just kind of... not that much of a thing on popstar, because it doesn't matter at all to anyone. nobody has ever cared about stuff like who or how you love, and 90% of them are picking their own pronouns anyway.

that said, it's still nice to have a little self representation here on our primitive earth internet, where this kind of thing very much does need to exist and we deserve to be proud of it!

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

It really is sad knowing that everyone thinks we’re a big red flag to people. It makes me a bit angry because it also makes it hard to make friends or have any relationship with people. I wish more people would understand that we aren’t trying to by creepy, overshare, or mean by being direct. It’s just how we are. Why can’t they accept and understand that?

Autistic Callum

[ipso-faculty]

Infinity symbols: a guide to their variations

Infinity symbols are popular in graphic design for good reason. In this post, I'm gonna describe ways to vary up the designs of infinity symbols. My goal is to educate fellow neurodivergent people on how to make infinity symbols that don't look like the Métis flag.

The neurodiversity community has been using rainbow infinity symbols since 2005. Here are neurodiversity flags from 2013, 2016, and 2019:

However, there's a problem with some of the new flag designs for a flag that is autism-specific. Here are some of the contenders:

These use a solid white infinity symbol. The solid white infinity curve is a symbol of Métis.

The Métis flag, created in 1815, has a white lemniscate on red background. Nowadays the Métis use the blue version more often. And to the right is the Métis queer pride flag:

For those unfamiliar, the Métis are one of the major Indigenous groups in what is now Canada, with most of their >600,000 population in the western and central parts of the country. The word métis means half-breed in French; lower-case m métis refers to those with mixed Indigenous and European ancestry. Capital-M Métis refers to the specific culture of métis that emerged, distinct from both Indigenous and settler cultures, and speaking hybrid languages such as Michif.

The issue of likeness has been brought up many times. While I can believe the autistic flag makers didn't know about the issue when making their designs, I know at least one of them was promptly informed of the issue and dismissed it.

The autistic community writ large has been pretty dismissive about this issue. I wonder if some of the defensiveness comes from not seeing an alternative - thinking that infinity symbol design is all or nothing.

I have some good news: it's possible to make infinity symbols that don't look Métis!

HOW INFINITY SYMBOLS VARY (PART ONE)

ASPECT A: TOPOLOGY

The first way we can categorize infinity symbols is their topology. These four varieties are most common

Topology 1: Open infinity symbol - this is the oldest style of using a figure-8 shape to represent the mathematical concept of infinity. On the left is the version Euler used.

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Topology 2: Lemniscate - a closed curve. On the left is the Metis flag. The curve is one solid entity: notice how the rainbow gradient on the right fills the whole thing.

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Topology 3: Infinity *loop* -  imagine you take a hair tie or rubber band and twist it. One part of the infinity loop is clearly in front, with another part clearly behind it. Loops are well established for neurodiversity and I think we should stick to using these.

Notice in the left example how the pattern flips between left and right. Also compare the rainbow gradient on the right to the lemniscate rainbow gradient above it. -

Topology 4: Infinity *ribbon* -  instead of a hair tie, use a ribbon. Ribbons have sides, producing an infinity loop that shows two sides.

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ASPECT B: THICKNESS

Line width can vary, which also helps to convey a loop! Again, I think we should be sticking to infinity loops when it comes to autistic/ND designs.

Option 1: Constant Thickness The lemniscate on the Metis flag has a constant line width, as does this neurodiversity rainbow gradient from 2016. I think we should avoid constant thickness.

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Option 2: Variable Thickness A variable thickness can help to reinforce that an infinity symbol is a loop rather than a solid lemniscate. There are a lot of ways to play with line thickness!

Many neurodiversity infinities are variable thickness and I think we should opt for this to steer clear of Metis territory.

THIS WILL BE CONTINUED IN A SECOND POST (tumblr has a limit of 30 images per post)

But just in case the second post gets lost in reblogs: I think variable thickness, combined with a loop topology, is what we should be using for neurodiversity & autism. E.g.

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST

[outergodly]

𓏵 Doll Autism｡ 

A flag for autistic beings who have a connection to dolls, or for dolls who are autistic.

Requested By : @seraph-system-official．

[canonically-asexual]

Whenever I get hyperfixated on a show or podcast or whatever, I like to commemorate it by making one of these weird bad embroideries and hanging it on what I call my Wall of Hyperfixations.

I'm not good at embroidery, and I don't really care to be. It's just a silly, fun thing I do while I watch my favorite shows, and it makes me happy.

Remember kids, it's okay to be bad at something and do it anyway because it brings you joy.