I made those flags for people who have non-diurnal chronotype, an unusual circadian rhythm or a sleep disorder:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturnality
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronotype
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm_sleep_disorder
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_disorder
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The "nocturnal" in the flag name is meant as an umbrella term for everybody from those groups.
We all have to struggle with lack of social acceptance, difficulty finding and keeping a job, being considered "weird" and whatever else people like to throw at us.
And people, who are a part of our community because of a disability, have it even more difficult:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-24-hour_sleep%E2%80%93wake_disorder
I hope one day we will live in a world where society will become more accepting, instead of medicalizing minorities and forcing them to adapt. Of course there are people who prefer typical sleep pattern, but there are also people who are happy to be nocturnal and they shouldn't be forced into sleep pattern which makes them uncomfortable.
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What is especially annoying, is that despite considering unusual sleep pattern a medical condition, most countries don't bother to consider it to be a disability. People who struggle with those are expected to just somehow magically fit into the society, despite little night-time or flexible-hours jobs being available (and the available ones often being low-paid jobs) and being unable to wake up to a typical job.
And to make it worse, companies almost always assume everybody is okay with a typical job time organization, even in jobs that could have every worker do their part at a completely different hour - like programming, graphic design, etc.
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Anyway, since there is virtually no public advocacy for atypical sleep patterns to be accepted, I decided to at least make a pride flag for us. We do matter, regardless of what society thinks.
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The meaning of the flag design is as follows:
The gray stripe symbolizes evening, night and morning. This basically symbolizes our difference from people with typical sleep patterns, who are rarely naturally active at that time.
The bluish green color symbolizes vegetation, while the greenish blue color symbolizes ocean. This symbolizes two things:
- The nature being more accepting of us, since it doesn't try to force convert us into creatures with a typical sleep pattern.
- The symbolic connection of plants and ocean to the non-daytime part of the clock. While many humans and animals are awake at that time, most aren't - and this causes the calm of the vegetation and ocean to be the most visible element of the landscape. Which is kind of poetic.
The white color symbolizes the people who are active at daytime, but have atypical sleep pattern. And it also symbolizes the stars of the night sky.
The moon is there mostly to make the flag easier to understand just from looking at it. And the moon border is there just to give the flag more visual clarity.
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Both color versions of the flag are equally valid and can be picked according to what one likes more - the vegetation or the ocean.
The only reason I made the greenish one first is because I personally like plants more.
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EDIT: Because people asked, I added more color versions. Although they don't really have any specific meaning to their colors (like the original two do), they are of course still valid.
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IMPORTANT NOTE:
Please, don't try to exclude anybody from this umbrella term - whoever has a sleep pattern different than most of the society is experiencing the same struggle. And I know this name may feel counterintuitive at first, but it is a term that's very recognizable and easy to understand. Which is useful, if we ever want to make the society more accepting of us.
I'm myself not exactly nocturnal - every few weeks, my chronotype shifts all around the clock until it's back to being nocturnal. I don't even know if there is a scientific name for my chronotype. But I think using a short and descriptive name may help further our cause - even if, when taken literally, it means something slightly different.
I was thinking about some other names, but I really couldn't find anything that most of the society would easily understand. But I guess it's fine, since words can change their meaning to be more inclusive. The word "gay" was also originally very specific and now is often used as an umbrella term.
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Also, if anything is wrong with the flag name or description, feel free to let me know or make your own version.
I don't claim to be the smartest catgirl alive, so of course I could always mess something up, even if I try to be as inclusive and respectful as possible.
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PS. Sorry for no vector version, I started drawing it as a raster image and then had no energy to redraw everything. I'm not good at digital art, so it would be pretty time-consuming for me and I was already quite tired.