# When did pink become a color associated with homosexuals? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 23, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678 "2010-11-23T17:49:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678/1 "2010-11-23T17:49:17Z")
I know now that the “flag” of the gay movement in general is a rainbow, but the color pink was used for, I think for many years (as an aside, in the German concentration camps, which had a huge variety of classification IDs for its son-to-die prisoners, the badge for homosexuals was pink). Also, when/if did pink gradually become superceded by the rainbow symbol? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678/2 "2010-11-23T18:09:36Z")
I don’t know, but I’ve heard that in the 19th century, pink was considered a masculine color, being associated with the bold color red. Blue was considered soft and feminine. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678/3 "2010-11-23T18:18:44Z")
The Nazis made homosexuals wear pink triangles. Those pink triangles have now been adopted as symbols of pride. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678/4 "2010-11-23T18:27:16Z")
Is it possible that the Nazis chose pink deliberately because of there already being an association of that colour with homosexuality? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678/5 "2010-11-23T18:42:07Z")
It might not have meant anything before the Nazis chose it. They had a [very specific set of other triangles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_concentration_camp_badges#Table_of_camp_inmate_markings) and it is possible that they just [ran out of easily distinguishable colors](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Line_%28Chicago_Transit_Authority%29). ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678/6 "2010-11-23T19:06:37Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I don’t know, but I’ve heard that in the 19th century, pink was considered a masculine color, being associated with the bold color red. Blue was considered soft and feminine. The Russian language has separate basic color terms for dark blue and light blue. The latter is the “gay color” in Russia. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678/7 "2010-11-23T19:19:19Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Is it possible that the Nazis chose pink deliberately because of there already being an association of that colour with homosexuality? Right. I’ve wondered the same thing, and it is very hard to find an answer. All I can usually come up with is that pink/red were at one point decidedly more masculine than blue, and then there was a shift, associating pink with femininity. Clearly, there was a shift, but was the Nazi thing the result of the it, or part of the onset? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678/8 "2010-11-23T19:27:07Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Also, when/if did pink gradually become superceded by the rainbow symbol? The rainbow flag was created by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker in 1978. ---
**Author:** ![HawksPath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f07891/32.png) [@HawksPath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HawksPath)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678/9 "2010-11-23T21:20:11Z")
The Master speaks on baby colors: [Was pink originally the color for boys and blue for girls? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2831/was-pink-originally-the-color-for-boys-and-blue-for-girls) By this article WWII was when the colors congealed, but the Nazi mark may have been as much part of the growing consensus as a consensus mover. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678/10 "2010-11-23T22:59:26Z")
Huh. I tend to associate pink with straight females, and purple with homosexuals. ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678/11 "2010-11-23T23:39:20Z")
In Japan, pink is associated with porn. Straight porn, that is. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678/12 "2010-11-24T00:13:39Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Huh. I tend to associate pink with straight females, and purple with homosexuals. It’s lavender actually. You’ll sometimes see levendar roses at SS weddings. The “lavender revolution” was a gay liberation movement circa 1969. But mauve represented homosexuality back in the 1890s. I’ll have to look it up, because I don’t remember the origins. Edit: This is from Wikipedia, but I’m quite sure I have a more authoritative cite in my library, I’m just not sure if I have the time to dig it up at the moment. > [@](#): > > Just as in the 1890s mauve symbolized homosexuality, the shade of lavender described above as [true] lavender or floral lavender became the symbol of homosexuality in the 1950s and 1960s. The first usage was in the 1920s to indicate an effeminate style. Sean Casey wrote in 1928, “I am very sorry..that I have hurt the refined sentimentalities of C. W. Allen by neglecting to use the lavender…language of the 18th and 19th centuries.” Cole Porter’s 1929 song “I’m a Gigolo,” went: “I’m a famous gigolo, And of lavender, my nature’s got just a dash in it.” A 1935 dictionary of slang reported “streak of lavender,” meant an effeminate man or a sissy, a term used in 1926 by Carl Sandburg to describe young Abraham Lincoln.[48] In the 1960s, homophiles were sometimes referred to as the lavender boys (this term is still used by some people [both gay and non-gay] to refer to gays). A lavender convention is a convention of homosexuals. A heterosexual who has some homosexual tendencies is described as someone with a dash of lavender.[49] In the 1970s pink became more often associated with homosexuality because of the use of the pink triangle as a symbol of gay liberation. However, gays of the baby boom generation still think of lavender as the gayest color. Apparently, the reason lavender symbolizes homosexuality is because it is the color that is obtained when you mix pink (the color symbolizing girls) with light blue (the color symbolizing boys).[50][51] ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678/13 "2010-11-24T00:20:08Z")
Remember that lesbians were not given pink triangles. Lesbian behaviour wasn’t a big concern for the Nazis and unless it was obvious was generally ignored. Lesbians were taken into camps when they became “obvious” and given black triangles. Several lesbian organizations have adopted the black triangle. The black triange was given for anti-social behaviour. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678/14 "2010-11-24T00:30:30Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > It’s lavender actually. You’ll sometimes see levendar roses at SS weddings. They may be evil mass-murderers but they did have fantastic formal-wear. I never associated the color pink with homosexuals. I never associated any color with them except for the rainbow flag, which is obviously not one color but a collection of several. And naturally, the [Bear Flag](http://www.fluidikons.com/bear_flag.jpg), a marvelously macho take on the rainbow. ---
**Author:** ![code\_grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678/15 "2010-11-24T00:34:25Z")
the terms “blue collar job” and “pink collar job” have a long history. I believe “pink collar” term was already being used during the Depression. And the level of manliness and special training required is an obvious distinction between the two. From what I can glean online, the Russian term based on the color “light blue” is thought to be either coined recently or at least widely spread recently (in the 1970s). Nobody seems certain about etymology, but one of the suggestions is based on the similarly sounding word for “dove” that was allegedly used internally by the gay subculture at some point. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678/16 "2010-11-24T00:39:48Z")
I can’t remember the exact date, but I remember it was a Tuesday. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678/17 "2010-11-24T01:06:20Z")
All I know is that as recently as 1984, pink had the ability to [destroy musical careers](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZvl2aqIyNg). ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678/18 "2010-11-24T14:29:24Z")
In the German army of WW2, panzer troopers wore pink trim on their uniforms. So I don’t think the Germans considered it effeminate. I think the pink triangles in the concentration camps was just a coincidence. After WW2, gay rights advocates adopted the pink triangle symbol as a deliberate statement. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678/19 "2010-11-24T14:50:24Z")
> [@code\_grey](#): > > the terms “blue collar job” and “pink collar job” have a long history. I believe “pink collar” term was already being used during the Depression. And the level of manliness and special training required is an obvious distinction between the two. According to the Merriam Webster site, the earliest known use of the term [pink collar](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pink-collar?show=0&t=1290610163) was in 1975. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678/20 "2010-11-24T14:57:44Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > It’s lavender actually. You’ll sometimes see levendar roses at SS weddings. That’s a rather unfortunate abbreviation, given the talk of Nazis in this thread. :dubious: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-pink-become-a-color-associated-with-homosexuals/561678.md?page=2)