The History of the Cinthean (aka "Original Gay Flag"), and Why Gays (generally) Dislike ItHomophobia, misinformation and hypocrisy. An informational card on why you shouldn't use this flag to represent you, even less gays/vincians.
1. Origin and Meaning
Cinthean is a flag and an optional alternative term specifically for gay/homosexual men and nonbinary people.
The label and flag, was created as a means for gay people to express themselves due to controversy surrounding older versions of flags meant for gay people- as well as providing another term to describe oneself if they so desired.
Cinthean is based heavily off of the tale of Hyacinthus. He was a lover of Apollo, who died in an accident while playing discus with him in some versions of the tale. As he died, Apollo transformed his blood into a flower to honor him. Said flower is believed by many to be what we know as the Hyacinth.The flag colors are based off of common Hyacinth flowers, and the symbol for the flag resembles the Hyacinth flower.Cinthean was not based on any other flag. The colors were picked based off of common Hyacinth flowers, and adjusted to fit together. Any resemblance to another flag it might have is entirely coincidental and unintentional.Cinthean was made by twitter user @halcyotis.
They were helped by @ghostedprince (no longer in contact with them) and @ZERRAORRA.
This information was taken from the official flag card, which also contains some dodgy content that I'll mention later on this card.If you look up a little discussion about the gay flag, you'll probably know about this flag, as well as another green, blue and purple one, but that's a topic for another conversation, this card will provide information about lies, homophobia and a lot of hypocrisy caused in the community gay because of the flag and also the term cinthean.As mentioned on the official card itself, the flag and the term were created because of controversy, so far so good because there really was a discussion about the gay flag and an alternative flag + getting a new term would be very interesting for people who don't like to get involved in these discussions, but it has risen to a level that is hypocritical, and in the end the flag and the term are not beyond polemics and controversies.Is Cinthean really a flag really 100% original as written on the official card?Spoiler: No.There is a Drive created by the creator of the flag which contains 5 photos, the original flag, a version with the meanings, a version with a hyacinth symbol, the hyacinth symbol in PNG, and also a variant of the flag with BIPOC colors.
Both the appearance of the flag, its meaning and even the term, doubting much of knowledge, are already similar to other flags and terms already created by people in the LGBTQ community much longer than the Cinthean flag.
2. Controversies
The meaningThe meaning of the flag appears to be very similar to the flag that was under discussion, which is why the Cinthean flag was created, the flag created by GayFlagBlog, Ocean/Vincian also called by homophobes "Toothpaste".GayFlagBlog on July 10, 2019 posted featuring the flag that would replace one very similar to the previous one, created by Administrator Hermy, from a Mogai Tumblr page, GayFlagBlog mentioned that the green stripes would represent nature, as well as the green stripe on the flag from Gilbert Baker's original rainbow created in 1985, GayFlagBlog also mentions two flowers, one of them a green carnation, the other a hyacinth. OK, hyacinth is not an exclusive symbol of anything or anyone, it's a flower, with a mythological tale behind it, that doesn't stop anyone from using it, but a well known thing is GayFlagBlog also made a hyacinth flower variant, but I'll mention that more later front.As several LGBT Flags, both the Ocean and Cinthean flags have specific meanings in their Stripes, something very common, two of the stripes already proposed by Gayflagblog ended up also being included in the Cinthean flag. Pure love and Joy, I know these words don't belong to anyone either, but then why put them? if the idea of the flag was to be totally original? I just don't understand. White flag representing trans people I honestly think is really important and it's something that's been around for a while, so I think it's really cool that both flags have it.
Flag VariantsThe Cinthean flag has 2 official variants, one with the hyacinth flower, the other with black and brown colors representing BIPOC. The funny thing is that this flag was created with the idea of being 100% original, but we reached a point where there is a lot of inspiration.
On June 30, 2020 GayFlagBlog, creator ja ocean, releases another one of their official variants of the flag, including a version with the hyacinth flower, on July 5, 2020, the cinthean flag is posted for the first time, 4 days later from GayFlagBlog to post the variant, it's really weird honestlyAnother variant is the BIPOC flag, honestly I won't question this one, because it's important for non-white people that they feel represented and included in everything, so a flag showing that they are included is just great. It's great that both flags have these variants
TermThis idea may even have worked with people who speak English, but for us, as our language is not English, it is very difficult to understand the real reason for which this term was created, usually in the English language, only "gay" is a term for everyone who isn't straight, like a slang term, and when they want to say "gay" representing men/enbys who are attracted to men/enbys, they end up using the term "gays mens". Generally used nowadays, we have the term Vincian, which is already more inclusive and has a certain history because of Leonardo da Vinci and etc, but that's a subject for another card. Now taking another language, like Portuguese, in Brazil they usually already relate only "gay" to a relationship between men/enbys, do you understand? when Brazilians received the term "Cinthean" they thought it would be to replace gay, and obviously this caused a great rejection and negative view of the flag and the term.It is well known as this cinthean flag has a strong connection with the ocean flag, on February 17, 2020, GayFlagBlog made a post proposing some alternative terms for Gay Men,
"Hyacinthine", "Hyacinthian" and "Hyacinthi" which are of origin from
Hyacinth / Hyacinthus. A flower with gay mythological tale.
And he also proposed the terms "Thamyrian" "Thamyri" which are the origin of the name Thamyris, who was the first man who loved another man.(Note: This post has been deleted but we have a link to it thanks to a gayflagblog reblog)
The AestheticsWell, the idea was to be a flag that didn't copy "the aesthetic of the lesbian flag", so of course the aesthetic had to come from somewhere else, the cinthean flag has the same aesthetic as all flags of the umbrella term "nixic". Can you see the problem? nixic, nixic nixic nix- cinthean
cinthean is a gay men's alternative term, nixic is a non-binary identity, it makes no sense for them to look alike.
3. Erases Queer History
Although the term cinthean is good and relevant, I cannot say the same about the aesthetics of the flag. it does not have a historical mark of the gay community, it was only created to please non-gays/vincians and propose a different aesthetic of the lesbian flag, instead of the creator of cinthean researching a little, he decided to just create a flag that would please everyone, forgetting than the main principles.In 1995 the first bear flag was created, a gay subculture, by the designer, Sean Patrick Campbell, who also created other flags, such as the first labrys flag design in 1999, unfortunately this Bear flag design was not very popular as the flag de Sean had copyrighted, so Craig Byrnes created the Bear Pride Flag in the same year.
The reason why gay men decided not to use the rainbow flag anymore was because transgender and non-binary gay men ended up being excluded by white cisgender gay men, so they decided they would come together to create a new unique flag design gay, that is, men or enbys who are attracted to men or enbys, and that's how we had the creation of some flags. (And also because the rainbow flag has always been from the LGBTQIAPN+ community, all versions of the rainbow flag, regardless of the number of stripes, are LGBTQIAPN+ flags).
But this is not the only gay flag similar to the lesbian flag, there is an older one, in pride parades it was possible to find a variant of the rainbow flag with the double mars/venus symbols, symbols used to represent gays/vincians and lesbians. These flags are most commonly used in pride parades and festivals.I would love to talk about the historical context of solidarity between gays and lesbians, but that point is for another card.
4. FINAL RESUME
If you are NOT a Gay/Vincian
You have to choose this flag to represent us. this is not your choice.
I'm not the one forcing you, it's the flag that the majority feels represented.
If You Are Gay/VincicianYou have the TOTAL right not to use this flag above, but spreading misinformation about it is something totally inappropriate to do, in addition to being a dangerous act that can have severe consequences for a large group of people.
But also keep the following thoughts in mind:- There are certain flags that ARE NOT gay flags to use in place of this one.
such as the "Gilbert Baker" flag, which is not an exclusively gay flag, but a flag for all of the LGBTQIAPN+ movement, and which today has been claimed by anti-trans groups, the same thing that happened with the labrys flag.- Certain flags are created only because the creator was sincerely wanting to attract attention on the internet and provoke hate, certain flags are created to rival others, this is not the proposal for pride flags.- You don't use the flag because someone created it, you use the flag because you feel represented and included, if you don't feel included, don't use it. Know that you make the flag your own identity, flags are more than color palettes, they are good for self-expression.- NEVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, create a flag to replace an existing one, ALWAYS create an alternative flag that can be used by the person's choice!
5. Sources and Thank You
Hello! My name is Ethan, I'm Gay Aroace and Non Binary, and I made this card based on the information I gathered while going through the outbreak of 2020, the outbreak that caused many people to cross the line and pass on information without sources. If you have any questions my twitter is @i4eth_!Credits to my friend Richard, who helped me a lot to make this card.
(His Twitter: @LunchboxAngel)Note: Keep in mind that we both speak English, but it's not our native language, so sometimes we both tweet using our native language.Special Credits to @strwbryfemme, who gave me the idea for the name of this card, as well as some arguments against this flag, thank you very much for your service! /not ironical.
