Handkerchief code
From Free net encyclopedia
Handkerchief code, more commonly known as hanky code or "flagging" was a way of indicating, usually among gay male casual sex seekers or BDSM practitioners in the US and Canada, whether they were a top or bottom, and what kind of sex they were seeking, by wearing color-coded handkerchiefs, usually in the back pocket. These were worn on the left side of the body for tops and the right for bottoms (this division is still somewhat common: tops may wear keys on the left belt loop and bottoms on the right, for example).
The practice has largely (but not entirely) fallen out of use, perhaps due to the advent of internet dating and the coming out of more members of the leather and BDSM communities.
There is no universally understood color code, and there may have been regional variations. There was general agreement upon the colours for more common practices (eg: yellow for watersports), but there was no consensus for the more uncommon practices.
Contents |
One example of a hanky code
| Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Black | heavy S and M |
| Grey | Bondage |
| White | Vanilla/Novice/Manual Sex |
| Charcoal | Latex Fetish |
| Leather | Leather Fetish |
| Red | Fisting |
| Orange | Anything Goes/Just Looking |
| Yellow | Watersports |
| Hunter Green | Daddy/Boy |
| Light Blue | Oral Sex |
| Robin's Egg Blue | 69 |
| Medium Blue | Cop Sex |
| Dark Blue | Anal sex |
| Sandalwood | Carpenter Sex |
| Khaki | Military Sex |
| Grey Flannel | Suit and Tie Fetish |
| Light pink | Dildos |
| Pink | Sex Toys/feet fetish (pinkies) |
| Goldenrod | Sugar daddy |
| Mauve | Navel fetish |
| Brown | Scat |
| Dark Pink | Tit torture |
| Purple | Piercings |
| Lavender | Drag queen |
| Gold | Three ways |
| Apricot | Cubby chaser |
| Beige | Rimming |
| Red/Black Stripe | Bears |
| Maroon | Cutting |
| Fuschia | Spanking |
Further reading
- Trevor Jacques, On the Safe Edge: A Manual for SM Play (ISBN 1-895857-05-8)