Butch

Butch symbol 2 — Alternate butch symbol by the-gender-thieves

Butch is a slang term used within the LGBTQ+ community, usually to denote a queer women who are associated with traditional expressions of masculinity, whether through clothing, hairstyle or behaviors. The term is also used among gay men to mean the same thing.

While the term is primarily used among lesbians, it is also used by non-binary and genderqueer individuals.

History & Coining[]

The exact origins of the term are not know, however it was popular in the 1940s, then was associated with the working-class lesbian bar culture in the 1970s, and then had a resurgence in the 1990s.

Flags & Symbols[]

The most popular butch flag was designed by Tumblr user butchspace on June 27, 2017. There is no known meaning behind the flag.

An older, blue butch flag was designed by a deleted user on or before August 25, 2016. There is no known meaning behind the flag.

An alternate orange butch lesbian flag was created by an anonymous user on the LGBTA Wiki on March 28, 2021.

The Black Butch Community flag was designed by Tumblr user the-gender-thieves on April 11, 2022. The colors were inspired by the dyke flag and both of the most common butch flags. The black represents black history and black sapphic history. The magenta/purple represents lesbian and sapphic history, love of women and non-men, and sapphic power. The dark purple represents inclusivity of all sapphics, including trans, non-binary, m-spec, a-spec and other sapphics. The light orange represents butchness, gender non-conformity, solidarity and unity.

The butch symbol was designed on October 4, 2014 by a group of non-binary Brazilians, based on the male symbol but with longer prongs.

Another butch symbol was created by Tumblr user the-gender-thieves, along with their flag. The symbol is not black-exclusive.