S&M Leather Pride Flag
Leather Pride Flag: symbol for practitioners of SM, leather fetishists
The Leather Pride Flag was designed by Tony DeBlase and was first displayed at the 1989 Mr. Leather Contest in Chicago. It was quickly adopted as a symbol for practitioners of SM, leather fetishists, and by extension any proud aficionado of BDSM or related practices.
DeBlase intends for each of us to interpret the shapes and colors of the Flag as we wish. Here is one interpretation: According to Stacey, Ms. National Leather Association International 1996, the red heart stands for the love we feel, and the white stripe is for purity (she did not explain what she meant by purity, but my interpretation is that it is the purity we attain when we express that love in an open, honest and consensual way). Black is for leather, and blue is for denim, two materials commonly worn (and eroticized) in our community. Conversio Virium proudly waves the Leather Pride Flag at its events and on these pages to symbolize its dedication to the struggle: freedom of sexual expression for all. Although the flag is often common in the gay community, it is not a "gay-only" symbol.
Triskellion Symbol
a new BDSM emblem...
What does the BDSM Emblem mean?
The BDSM emblem has no "obvious" symbolism because it was created to be enigmatic. To the vanilla observer who would be put off by BDSM, it's merely an attractive piece of jewelry. Thus, we can wear it freely as a friendly salute, nod, and wink to other BDSMers we should happen to pass on the sidewalks and in the hallways of our daily lives. To the insider, however, the Emblem is full of meaning.
The three divisions represent the various threesomes of BDSM. First of all, the three divisions of BDSM itself: B&D, D&S, and S&M. Secondly, the three-way creed of BDSM behavior: Safe, Sane, and Consensual. Thirdly, the three divisions of our community: Tops, Bottoms, and Switches.
It is this third symbolism that gives meaning to the holes in each unit. Since BDSM is at the very least a play style and at its greatest a love style, the holes represent the incompleteness of any individual within the BDSM context. However "together" and "whole" individuals may be, there remains a void within them that can only be filled by a complimentary other. BDSM cannot be done alone.
The resemblance to a three-way variation on the Yin-Yang symbol is not accidental. As the curved outline of Yin and Yang represent the hazy border between where one ends and the other begins, so do the curved borders here represent the indistinct divisions between B&D, D&S, and S&M.
The metal and metallic color of the medallion represents the chains or irons of BDSM servitude/ownership. The three inner fields are black, representing a celebration of the controlled dark side of BDSM sexuality.
The curved lines themselves can be seen as a stylized depiction of a lash as it swings, or even an arm in motion to deliver an erotic spanking. The all-embracing circle, of course, represents the overlying unity of it all and the oneness of a community that protects its own. One cannot exist without the other.
