Handkerchief codes

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'''Handkerchief code''', more commonly known as '''hanky code''', was a way of [[Flagging|indicating]], usually among [[gay]] and gay [[Leather Community|Leather]] casual sex seekers or [[BDSM]] practitioners in the US and Canada, whether they were a [[top (sex)|top]] or [[bottom (sex)|bottom]], and what kind of sex they were seeking, by wearing colour-coded handkerchiefs (or some other piece of material), usually in the back pocket of [[jeans]]. These were worn on the left side of the body for tops and the right for bottoms (this division is still somewhat common: tops may wear [[Key Codes|keys]] on the left belt loop and bottoms on the right, for example).  
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'''Handkerchief code''', more commonly known as '''hanky code''', was a way of [[Flagging|indicating]], usually among [[gay]] and gay [[Leather Community|Leather]] casual sex seekers or [[BDSM]] practitioners in the US and Canada, whether they were a [[top (sex)|top]] or [[bottom (sex)|bottom]], and what kind of sex they were seeking, by wearing colour-coded handkerchiefs (or some other piece of material), usually in the back pocket of [[jeans]]. These were worn on the left side of the body for tops and the right for bottoms (this division is still somewhat common: tops may wear [[flagging|keys]] on the left belt loop and bottoms on the right, for example).  
  
 
There is no universally understood colour code, and there may have been regional variations. There is, however, a general agreement on the colours for more common practices: yellow for [[watersports]], red for [[fisting]], navy for [[anal intercourse]] and black for generalised [[S&M]], as well as brown for [[scat]], but there was no consensus for the more uncommon practices, mainly because of the difficulty in acquiring such coloured handkerchiefs, but particularly because no one save for a gay sex shop clerk ever bothered to learn them all.  
 
There is no universally understood colour code, and there may have been regional variations. There is, however, a general agreement on the colours for more common practices: yellow for [[watersports]], red for [[fisting]], navy for [[anal intercourse]] and black for generalised [[S&M]], as well as brown for [[scat]], but there was no consensus for the more uncommon practices, mainly because of the difficulty in acquiring such coloured handkerchiefs, but particularly because no one save for a gay sex shop clerk ever bothered to learn them all.  
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It is less common than it used to be, perhaps due to the advent of Internet dating and the coming out of more members of the leather and BDSM communities. For the universally understood colours, however, the basic hanky code still holds, and, for the totally [[out]], is often a part of one's everyday street wear (but red hankies need to be further explicated before one makes a pass in non-gay contexts).
 
It is less common than it used to be, perhaps due to the advent of Internet dating and the coming out of more members of the leather and BDSM communities. For the universally understood colours, however, the basic hanky code still holds, and, for the totally [[out]], is often a part of one's everyday street wear (but red hankies need to be further explicated before one makes a pass in non-gay contexts).
  
==Further Reading==
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== See also ==
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* [[BDSM]]
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* [[Colours]]
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* [[Flagging]]
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* [[Leather]]
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* [[Gay]]
  
*Trevor Jacques, ''On the Safe Edge: A Manual for SM Play'' (ISBN 1-895857-05-8)
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== References ==
 +
* Trevor Jacques, ''On the Safe Edge: A Manual for SM Play'' ISBN 1-895857-05-8
 +
* Eric J. Trimmer, ''The Visual Dictionary of Sex'' (1978) ISBN 0 330 25890 7, pages 74-5
  
==Related Topics==
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== External links ==
*[[BDSM]]
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* [http://www.maturecoupons.com/gay_hanky_code.htm Gay hanky codes] (brief)
*[[Leather]]
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*[[Gay]]
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==External links==
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*[http://www.maturecoupons.com/gay_hanky_code.htm Gay hanky codes] (brief)
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* [http://members.aol.com/OfficerJim/hankycodes.html "The Compleat Handkerchief Code"]
 
* [http://members.aol.com/OfficerJim/hankycodes.html "The Compleat Handkerchief Code"]
*[http://www.gaycityusa.com/hankycodes.htm Gay hanky codes] (extensive but possibly debatable)
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* [http://www.gaycityusa.com/hankycodes.htm Gay hanky codes] (extensive but possibly debatable)
 
* [http://backdrop.net/sm-201/index.php?title=Handkerchief_codes Chart in SM-201]
 
* [http://backdrop.net/sm-201/index.php?title=Handkerchief_codes Chart in SM-201]
 
  
 
[[Category:Gay]]
 
[[Category:Gay]]
 
[[Category:Symbols and signals]]
 
[[Category:Symbols and signals]]

Latest revision as of 16:30, 18 August 2014

Handkerchief code, more commonly known as hanky code, was a way of indicating, usually among gay and gay Leather casual sex seekers or BDSM practitioners in the US and Canada, whether they were a top or bottom, and what kind of sex they were seeking, by wearing colour-coded handkerchiefs (or some other piece of material), usually in the back pocket of jeans. These were worn on the left side of the body for tops and the right for bottoms (this division is still somewhat common: tops may wear keys on the left belt loop and bottoms on the right, for example).

There is no universally understood colour code, and there may have been regional variations. There is, however, a general agreement on the colours for more common practices: yellow for watersports, red for fisting, navy for anal intercourse and black for generalised S&M, as well as brown for scat, but there was no consensus for the more uncommon practices, mainly because of the difficulty in acquiring such coloured handkerchiefs, but particularly because no one save for a gay sex shop clerk ever bothered to learn them all.

It is less common than it used to be, perhaps due to the advent of Internet dating and the coming out of more members of the leather and BDSM communities. For the universally understood colours, however, the basic hanky code still holds, and, for the totally out, is often a part of one's everyday street wear (but red hankies need to be further explicated before one makes a pass in non-gay contexts).

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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