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Flagging

Flagging is the practice of wearing specific clothing, insignia, or accessories to indicate a particular BDSM or sexual interest or orientation.

In the Leather Subculture, the Hanky Code provides a way of declaring interests using different coloured handkerchiefs worn in a back trouser pocket (eg gray = bondage). Although the use of flagging has declined, it is conventional for tops to wear the hanky on the left, and bottoms to wear it on the right. This convention may also extend to keys.

There is no universal flagging convention in O&P, but due to the large overlap with the M/s tradition within Leather, the same left-right associations would be an obvious choice.

The collar worn by owned submissives and slaves can also be seen as a form of flagging, and the Ownership Icons provide a set of visual flags.

The iron signet ring in the Story of O can be viewed as a fictional instance of flagging.

See also

• Leather
• Collar

• Handkerchief code article in Wikipedia
• Flagging and Hanky code at the Deviants' Dictionary

(This article incorporates text from the Handkerchief code article in Wikipedia, and Flagging article in Wipipedia.)

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