beige flag
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
By analogy with red flag and green flag, due to the fact that beige is typically considered to be a boring or bland colour. Popularized on TikTok in 2022.
Noun[edit]
beige flag (plural beige flags)
- (slang, figuratively)
- A clue or indication (especially on an online dating profile) that a person is boring or unoriginal. [from 2022]
- 2022 May 10, @edenyoung__, Twitter[1], archived from the original on 2023-06-05:
- just seen someone on tiktok saying people talking about pineapple on pizza on dating apps is the biggest "beige flag" and i could not agree more
- 2022 September 1, en, “Jana Hocking on why ‘’’’beige flags’’’’ are the new dating trend to watch out for”, in New York Post[2], New York, N.Y.: News Corp, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-10-11:
- Jana Hocking says having a standard profile picture on a dating app is a "beige flag."
- 2022 September 22, Romano Santos, “Move Over, Red: Beige Flags Are the Newest Dating App Warning Signs.”, in VICE[3], archived from the original on 2023-05-03:
- Like their red and green cousins, beige flags start popping up everywhere once you know what they are (that's called the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon). For example, having strong opinions about, say, peanut butter is probably a beige flag. Surely anybody with a moderately interesting life would have better things to talk about than whether or not blended peanuts should contain slightly whole peanuts.
- A mundane but mildly unusual quirk or habit of one's romantic partner. [from 2023]
- 2023 May 29, @wrldhars, Twitter[4], archived from the original on 2023-06-06:
- my bf's beige flag is he'll constantly tell me he has ocd but then proceed to cut the brownies like this 😭😭😭
- 2023 May 30, Jillian Giandurco, “On TikTok, Users Are Celebrating The "Beige Flags" In Their Relationships”, in Bustle[5], archived from the original on 2023-06-03:
- Though the video went viral a year ago, you've probably been seeing the slang term all over your FYP since late May 2023. In fact, the hashtag #beigeflag has amassed over 269.6 million views and counting, and it's all thanks to a new trend where users (lovingly) expose their partners' beige flags.
- 2023 June 1, “Beige flags are the latest dating phenomenon that are dividing the internet”, in Glamour[6], Greenwich, C.T., […]: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-03:
- This is the definition inspiring a TikTok trend for "my boyfriend's beige flag..." or "My girlfriend's beige flag is...", where people in relationships share quirky details about their partners, like the fact they always ask the waiter what they should order and then follow suit; or sleep-talking about their golf game; or mispronouncing words; or their refusal to put their phone on silent during the night in case they miss their alarm (I mean this one might grate personally but…)
- 2023 June 1, Maddy Mussen, “Beige flags: have we reached peak 'flag' fatigue?”, in Evening Standard[7], London: Evening Standard Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-04:
- He's not alone in his beige flags. My girlie group chat was readily available with an arsenal of them when I called upon the roundtable for their boyfriends' offending habits. Like a set of magicians pulling earth toned strings of handkerchiefs from their sleeves, they offered a plethora of beige flags: one friend's boyfriend makes plans with her in his head, doesn't tell her, and then gets upset when she "double books" him, despite her not knowing they had plans at all.
- (by extension) Someone who has a beige flag (in either sense).
- That guy is a huge beige flag.
- 2022 September 12, “Beige flags: the warning signs that announce you’re too boring to date”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian[8], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-05-24:
- You set up a dating profile to stand out from the crowd, but you've filled it with the same basic, unexceptional cookie-cutter observations and interests as everyone else. Nothing about you stands out. You are a walking, talking beige flag. Why should I waste my time on you?
- 2022 December 8, “The Bumble Diaries: Gearing up for hot girl summer”, in Stuff[9], archived from the original on 2022-12-17:
- It was a question Christchurch woman Tamzyn, 29, asked herself when she found her Bumble matches drying up. "I just blamed the fact that I was in Christchurch for a while, to be honest!" she laughs. "But then I took a look at my profile with a different lens, and I realised I was one giant, walking beige flag.
- 2023 May 26, Emilie Lavinia, “The Dark Side of 'Are We Dating the Same Guy' Groups”, in VICE[10], archived from the original on 2023-05-31:
- Perhaps if you're confident that your behaviour is unproblematic and you're at best, a beige flag, there's no reason for anxiety.
- A clue or indication (especially on an online dating profile) that a person is boring or unoriginal. [from 2022]
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see beige, flag.
- 2007, Kate Banks, Lenny's Space, New York, N.Y.: Frances Foster Books, →ISBN, page 150:
- Lenny looked down at his clothes. He was wearing a pair of beige pants and a green shirt. He'd dressed himself without his book of flags. There were no beige flags. Not yet anyway. But someday there might be.
Coordinate terms[edit]
colours of flags
Further reading[edit]
- “beige flag”, in Urban Dictionary, launched 1999.