Truth in Advertising

[ecosophia]

One of the entertaining features of living in a magically illiterate society is that very often, when people create symbols, those symbols express far more of the truth than their creators realize -- or want. I had a great example of that yesterday, courtesy of the flag to the left, which was flying over city hall here in East Providence.  

I think most people these days are familiar with the standard Pride Flag, which was invented back in 1978 by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker and has become an iconic presence in the gay and lesbian communities. In what became its standard form, it has six stripes, each of which refers to a principle -- red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, blue for harmony, and purple for spirit. (Those of my readers who know their way around magical symbolism will recognize these attributions -- clearly Baker knew what he was doing.) 

Just recently, however, the six-stripe Pride flag has been deemed inadequate by certain influential groups in our society. The first alternative version to get general acceptance put black and brown stripes above the rainbow, to symbolize people of color. The flag I've posted here is a next-generation revision of that, including blue and pink stripes for transgender persons, as well as a white triangle. This is called the Progress Pride Flag, and it was invented in 2018 by designer Daniel Quasar. It redefines some of the colors in the original six-stripe flag -- in this version, yellow stands for "new ideas;" green, inevitably, for prosperity; and blue for serenity in place of harmony. Yet the most important change, as in the earlier alternative version, is that the black, brown, light blue, and pink stripes stand not for principles but for people -- the brown and black for people of color and the white, blue, and pink for transgender people. 

Now look at it as a symbol. It shows the gay and lesbian communities being split apart by a wedge composed of racial and transgender issues.  It shows the replacement of principles that everyone can embrace, and benefit from, by a system of privilege in which certain categories of people are assigned rights that override the rights and needs of others. The wedge is an emblem of forcible penetration, thrusting its way in against the will of others -- and the lily-whilte triangle at the far left sure looks like the impetus behind it all. 

I doubt that Daniel Quasar had any of this in mind; xer (sic) clumsy redefinition of three of the original stripes suggests that xe has no clue about the magical meanings of colors. As Carl Jung pointed out a long time ago, however, it's the symbols we create in perfect ignorance of their meaning that most precisely reflect what's going on in the deep places of our minds. The new flag is an exact reflection of a particular political and cultural stance of our time, in which the rejection of principle in favor of privilege has become pervasive, in which the natural world (sunlight and nature, the solar and telluric currents of ancient magic) has been dismissed in favor of anthropocentric fixations on "new ideas" and getting rich, and in which harmony between people is supposed to be replaced by an internal state of serenity which can, of course, coexist readily with abusive behavior toward others -- and in which all this is to be forced on everyone against their will. Truth in advertising?  It certainly looks that way to me. 

Comments

[avalterra]

JMG,

As is fairly typical that flag did not last long. Here is the new and improved version.

Latest version of the Progress Pride flag

AV

[ecosophia]

It'll be interesting to see how long it takes before fifteen other bars get added to the chevron...

so that is what felt so wrong about that flag

[chaosadventurer]

My first thoughts were that this new flag just looked too cluttered to be a clear point chopping up the original intention, but I hadn't had the chance to really think about it.
Now I see the White power leveraging others to control it all, sigh.
To really demonstrate, an animated version might have the wedge marching over the stripes until all is White.
As a White English speaker, I survived my first 4 years of school in a Canadian Residential school in a French town. I've seen what that sort of oppression does to others, even as I was clearly a minority in class. While I didn't understand it at the time, I felt it was wrong then, and am worried of what atrocities this flag may be flown over.

Thank you to providing the analysis that gives clarity to those gut feelings

Re: so that is what felt so wrong about that flag

[ecosophia]

I wish I knew how to do that kind of animation. I might also put eyeholes in the white triangle...

[fringewood]

My husband suggested this flag looks more military/militant as well.

[ecosophia]

He's quite right. That's the effect of the wedge, with its intrusive and disruptive symbolism.

[(Anonymous)]

Aesthetically, it looks - busy. And the visual effect is quite unlike the slear-cut rainbow we've all come to know and love. The connection to the normal candle-burning correspondences being replaced by something from those dreadful "inspirational" posters management posts all over corporate walls and stuffs down our throats in seminars and self-help books (if you get Pocket on your computer, glance at the headline topics some time). Only Life Healing, and Spirit remain. Sigh. what next, "Drink Icky-Cola and join the in-crowd?" And you're right, it does look like a wedge. May I pass this on to my friend Jay Bainbridge?

Maroon Jocular Pangolin

[ecosophia]

You may pass it on to anyone and everyone, and spread it far and wide.

They doth protest too much

[(Anonymous)]

Maybe I become jaded too quickly, but I don’t see why anyone would allow sexuality to take over one’s identity. I like sushi but that doesn’t mean I want to dress up as a giant maki every day and go to a march in celebration of vinegared rice. People who wear their sexuality on their sleeves are OK by me; I’m a mellow “you do you” person — however, I think they doth protest too much and I also have no children or grandchildren to protect/raise.

Netflix has recently gotten itself in hot water once again with its newest superhero animated series, Super Drags. The right is already calling it “gay agenda normalization” and tarring it with an extremely vile and accusatory brush. The professional managerial class has stepped in it pretty badly by pushing vaccines for children in a period where the Left’s lockdowns have caused a new Great Recession. They add insult to injury with a show like Super Drags. You’re far more of a historian than I’ll ever be, but I personally feel the coldness of the shadow of the French Revolution these days. The elites just do not get it… and then a princess’s head lands itself on a pike and they have no choice.

Re: They doth protest too much

[ecosophia]

Curiously enough, the Princesse de Lamballe has been on my mind of late, too. Listen carefully in the night and you can hear the tumbrils...

[brenainn]

For some reason, when I got to the gender neutral pronouns in the last paragraph, my internal voice read the rest with a cheesy German accent.

Anyway, this is very interesting. It seems as though the magically illiterate tip their hands without realizing it. But this does seem to be a pretty apt description of what is happening now. I recall your discussion of the Rescue Game in "The King in Orange." I suppose we can already see signs that the Rescuers and Victims will soon turn their ire onto each other. I got bored with the Persecutor role a while back, having better things to do than accept blame for the world's problems.

[ecosophia]

The secret to the rescue game is that all the Persecutors have to do is refuse to show up for the show trials. Once that happens, it moves into the circular firing squad stage promptly...

[ecosophia]

That was certainly how I read it.

truth in advertising

[susan_c]

Plus, it's ugly.

Re: truth in advertising

[ecosophia]

True enough!

[stcathalexandria]

Now that you provided that context, I can't unsee it. I'm halfway thru the King in Orange and this post feels like a continuation of that book.

I just finished the chapter on the Rescue Game and I remember how angry it got a few people when first posted years ago. I recall something like "no no, I'm doing things for the right reasons. It's those people over there that are wrong." It really hasn't changed!

[ecosophia]

This post could very well become part of a sequel, because no, it hasn't changed at all.

[(Anonymous)]

You hitthe nail on the head!

[ecosophia]

Thank you.

[lincoln_lynx]

I love when they are unintentionally honest about their agenda.

[ecosophia]

One of the things that makes a grasp of symbolism so useful is that they're always honest about their agenda, so long as you can look past their words to the symbolic patterns that display their thoughts.

[(Anonymous)]

Skaa...I admire the Pride Flag and the security it offers for people I love, and in a pinch myself... This seems more akin to nation building, which means subconsciously "the competition" to many and not the few. Rather than tolerance, this is about "Us, not you." if you know what I mean.

-Black Tuna and Hand

[ecosophia]

I do indeed. I find the traditional Pride flag a very positive and well-crafted symbol; the new flag is an attempt to displace and exploit it.

[(Anonymous)]

Interesting! I might link to this when I regain regular computer access. Also,it's an ugly design in its own right. And whatever happened to Asians,Natives or even Muslims?

Good symbol for what happened last year with White trans-kids pretending to be a Black vanguard...

Tidlösa
Sweden

[ecosophia]

Identity politics isn't about rights for everyone. It's about special rights for specific groups who are privileged above everyone else. That's what this flag represents.

[(Anonymous)]

I assume that what symbols we favor or strongly disfavor (as opposed to actually create) without knowing their meaning might also be revealing? Symbols and myths...

Tidlösa
Sweden

[ecosophia]

Yep. A competent Jungian can look at the myths that appeal to you and tell you much more than you want to hear about what's going on in your mind...

Splitting the quilt bag

[ritaer]

Jun5 5 article in The Economist talks about pushback against the attacks on those deemed to be TERFs. Gender critical theory--i.e. the belief that one cannot truly change one's sex and that women only spaces need to be maintained is regarded as hate speech by some trans activists and is being treated as such by some universities. Lawsuits for employment discrimination are in the works. In the meantime some gay organizations have split on the issue because they feel that young gays are pressured into declaring themselves trans, and therefore straight, rather than accepting a gay identity. The Economist does not mention in this context the stance of the Iranian government, which permits transgender people to transition, but executes male homosexuals.

One of the current issues concerns the Olympics. A young Tongan woman weightlifter has been edged out of the competition by a 40+ transwoman New Zealander who has won prizes in the past as a male weightlifter. A change in the rules, disputed by many and unsupported by science allowed this. A former female Olympia interviewed by Reuters claims that women who are upset are being told to keep quiet on the issue.

In another article one critic compared the insistance that gender has nothing to do with the body to the Catholic belief in transubstantiation---a man may “retain the accidents of a man, but the essence is that of a woman”.

Rita

Re: Splitting the quilt bag

[ecosophia]

One of the things this flag design brought home to me is that the whole purpose of currently approved policies is exactly that -- to split the LGBTQ bloc and get them fighting among themselves so they can't function as an effective power center in the larger political sphere. So far it seems to be working.

In agreement

[(Anonymous)]

I have to agree with your analysis John.

Raymond R

Re: In agreement

[ecosophia]

Thank you. I saw the flag while heading to the post office, and couldn't miss seeing what it meant.

[(Anonymous)]

I remember when I first saw the original replacement flag. It was six months or so after Obergefell v. Hodgeshe (the Supreme Court case that declared that same-sex couples had the right to marry) and I literally saw the black movements stepping in and saying "You got your baubles, now it's our turn" when they showed the animation of the brown and black stripes taking their spot on top of the rainbow flag.

Six months...

– Godozo

[ecosophia]

And the replacement flag had its own symbolic message: "Our issues outrank yours."

Graphics

[peter_van_erp]

This reminds me of the logo for the 2016 Clinton campaign. Am I the only one who saw that it was pointing to the right, which is exactly where She would lead us?

Re: Graphics

[mo_drui_mac_de]

Also relevant that the Right-pointing arrow was...er...red as a Republican ballcap...

[(Anonymous)]

As an example of this, check out this latest act of insanity from the social justice crowd in Seattle. Not only did the Seattle Human Rights Commission openly defend and condone a blatant act of racial discrimination, but they doxxed the gay activists who filed the complaint and bullied them into making a groveling apology for having had the temerity to do so.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/seattle-pride-event-to-make-white-attendees-pay-reparations-fee-city-human-rights-commission-blasts-doxxes-lgbt-critics

https://www.starobserver.com.au/news/seattle-black-pride-event-to-charge-reparation-fee-from-white-attendees/204059

The liberal circular firing squad is in full swing...

[ecosophia]

Well, of course. Another reason I'm glad I left Seattle...

[(Anonymous)]

Hmm... The white of the tile floors in Target? The white of the fluorescent lights in Best Buy? The white of the doctor's office, where one is rendered atomized and vulnerable to a predatory medical system? The white of the pills that keeps one nice and serene?

-Cliff

[ecosophia]

Symbolically, all of the above. Also the white of the privileged people who benefit from this...

[mo_drui_mac_de]

It may be telling that while I've not thought much about the new(est) flag design beyond the sense of profound uneasiness it provokes in me every time I see it (which is not at all evoked by the old model), the second I opened up this page and cast eyes upon it as a subject for serious reflection I instantly got nearly everything you pointed out in detail (with the exception of the *ahem* updated principles). It's also telling that my extremely pro-LGBT bisexual wife, who has been in longterm serious relationships with men, women, and a transwoman (who attended our wedding!), is far more disturbed by the updates made to Baker's design than I am. I've not shown her this post yet, but when we've spoken about the flag updates in the past, she laments that back in the 80s, there was indeed a black band appended to the Pride flag, which represented the catastrophic death toll the AIDS epidemic had in the LGBT community--a fact which now seems to have been flatly ignored by an entirely unrelated cause piggybacking on top of (in last year's flag) or (in Quasar's model) charging like an invading army into an established and (until recently) successful movement. Very astute to point out that the backing power behind that thrusting spear is indeed tiny, sharp-tongued and pointy-headed, and as white as the snow.

[ecosophia]

It's impossible not to see once you take a good look at it.

[(Anonymous)]

I think another thing this points to is the extent to which they've abandoned equality as an ideal. Changing the group symbol to highlight specific subgroups who were already included (see also: BIPOC) smacks strongly of "some animals are more equal than others."

[ecosophia]

Bingo. It's not about equality, it's about attempts to claim special privilege.

[open_space]

Ouch! The many lettered community getting hijacked when if it where a country its gdp would be in the top 5 countries can't be good sign for the actual movement. The rot is spreading fast... I am afraid of thinking where will the collective consciousness be in a decade. I am not sure how much twisting will some minds sustain before snapping.

[ecosophia]

There will be a lot of snapping, no question.

[barefootwisdom]

A few weeks ago, to mark the beginning of Pride Month, a militantly woke shop downtown was flying this new flag, along with a message on the sandwich board on the sidewalk: "Gay marriage has lasted longer the the Confederacy, and we have a better flag, too!"

The mere fact that their first instinct was to compare this new Pride flag with the Stars and Bars... Levels upon levels we could unpack here...

[ecosophia]

Good gods. No, that's not revealing at all, is it?

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

You might want to check out Ben Cobley's "The Tribe: The Liberal-Left and The System of Diversity" which analyses the mechanisms behind identity politics in great detail.

It's in a UK context, but I doubt the operative principle is very different in the US.

[ecosophia]

Thanks for this.