Handkerchief code

Handkerchief code or hanky code (also known as bandana code and flagging) is a way of indicating, usually among gay male casual sex-seekers or BDSM practitioners in the leather subculture in the United States, Canada and Europe, whether they are a top or bottom, and what kind of sex they are seeking, by wearing color-coded handkerchiefs (bandanas), usually in the back pocket. The hanky code was widely used in the 1970s as a "secret" gay code that was intended to go unnoticed by non-gays, but general awareness of the code has gone increasingly mainstream.

There is no universally-recognized, "official" color code, and regional variants of the code exist. However, there is widespread consensus on the meanings of a handful of colors, based on decades of precedent in the gay communities of many different countries -- such as yellow for watersports; red for fisting; and black for SM. Also, generally speaking, it is understood that a hanky displayed in the left-side pocket signifies a preference for taking the "top" or "dominant" or "Master" role, while the right side represents the "bottom" or "submissive" or "slave" role.

Today the bandanas are worn almost exclusively in the rear trouser pocket, on the left side of the body for tops and on the right for bottoms, just as tops wear their keys on the left belt loop and bottoms on the right. In the past bandanas were also worn tied around the neck (with the knot positioned on either the left or right side); around the ankle (when wearing boots or when undressed); hung from the left or right side of the belt, or on other parts of the body.

Origin

The wearing of various colored bandanas around the neck was common in the mid- and late-nineteenth century among cowboys, steam railroad engineers, and miners in the Western United States. It is thought that the wearing of bandanas by gay men originated in San Francisco after the Gold Rush, when, because of a shortage of women, men dancing with each other in square dances developed a code wherein the man wearing the blue bandana took the male part in the square dance, and the man wearing the red bandana took the female part (these bandanas were usually worn around the arm or hanging from the belt or in the back pocket of one's jeans). It is believed by some that the modern Hanky Code started in New York City in about 1970 when a journalist for the Village Voice joked that instead of simply wearing keys to indicate whether someone was a "top" or a "bottom", it would be more efficient to subtly announce their particular sexual focus by wearing different colored hankies

Examples

  Color                             Meaning                         Practice