Gay Men



Vincian is one of multiple terms used to describe gay men or men-aligned people. It is one of the most widely recognized alternatives to the term "gay men" and is often used as the masculine equivalent of lesbian (referring to exclusive attraction). It is sometimes also used as a variant of achillean (referring to any MLM attraction, exclusive or not), due to miscommunication on the part of the coiner.

The term is also sometimes used by neutral-aligned, abinary, or unaligned non-binary people who are attracted to men, men-aligned people, masculine aligned people, and other non-binary people who identify as vincian. It is sometimes more broadly defined as non-women attracted to non-women, including all NBLM, MLNB, and NBLNB attractions. However, this definition is not the most commonly recognized, and not all non-binary people feel comfortable being included under vincian attraction. A non-woman attracted to non-women is also called floric.

Purpose
The term "gay" is used as an adjective to describe homosexuality, and is also often used by the entire LGBT community in general. For this reason, various proposed terms for homosexual men were coined, including vincian. Some individuals also argue that "gay" should just mean homosexual men all together, due to the fact that gay women are referred to as lesbian. Other people simply refer to homosexual men as "gay men".

Other Terms
Although vincian is generally the most commonly seen term, many other proposed terms for gay men exist. Alternate terms include:


 * Uranian: A historical term that is sometimes used to mean gay men.
 * Turian or Veldian: Named after Alan Turing. Describes both gay men and gay (NBLM) non-binary people.
 * Floric: Named after Florence, the birthplace of Leonardo Da Vinci, who is the namesake of vincian. is a term used for non-woman attracted to non-women, it includes and is sometimes used as a synonym for “gay men”.
 * Patroclian or Patroclic: Comes from the Greek story of Patroclus, who was thought to be a romantic partner of Achilles (the origin of Achillean). Many people feel this term is too long and has too many syllables.
 * Hyacinthine, Hyacinthian, Hyacinthi or Cinthean: Based on Hyacinth/Hyacinthus from Greek mythology.
 * Thamyrian or Thamyri: Based on Thamyris is Greek mythology, cited as “the first man to have loved another male”.
 * Carnatian: From the green carnation flower, used in as a lapel in Victorian times to symbolize male homosexuality.
 * Viridian: Coming from viridi the Latin word for green, a color often associated with male homosexuality. Vir also means man.
 * Casian: Based on the Latin casia meaning "lavender".
 * Gayan: Has the same meaning as “gay” in “gay man” just as “lesbian” has in “lesbian woman”.
 * Magnian: Meant to honor Magnus Hirschfeld.

History
Vincian was coined by Tumblr user bivirgil on June 22, 2018. The term was described as an alternative for achillean (implying non-exclusive attraction), but the creator also described the term as being a word for gay men (implying exclusive attraction). It is unclear what the exact meaning of the term was intended to be. Some people treat the term as variant of achillean. Some people use it as another word for gay men (exclusive attraction).

Flags
There are many flags that represent gay men or vincians.

In the mid-2010s, gay activist Valentin Belyaev posted his version of the gay man flag in an initiative group in VKontakte to combat gayphobia (homophobia against men) and on Tumblr. It later spread further on the internet and especially spread in the gay activist space. This flag consists of shades of azure and blue, symbolizes the diversity of the gay community and is an analog of the traditional lesbian flag, consisting of shades of rose and red.

The original vincian flag was made by Mod Hermy of the @ask-pride-color-schemes Tumblr blog in 2017. It was based on the lipstick lesbian flag, which in turn was plagiarized from a satirical cougar pride flag. This design has been criticized for its stereotypical use of blue to represent gay men in terms of masculinity.

Later in 2019, the Tumblr Blog gayflagblog proposed a flag based off of the prior version that addressed the issues with the old one by adding symbolic and historical meanings to each color and stripe as well as allowing those in the community to offer input and propose their own changes.The top three stripes represent community, healing, and joy. The bottom three stripes represent pure love, fortitude, and diversity. The white middle stripe is taken from the trans flag and represents all trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming vincians/gay men. The green and teal in the flag represent nature, as love between men is often seen as “unnatural” in the eyes of society and in religion. Furthermore, gay men have historically used green flowers and plants (carnations, hyacinths, etc.) The blue-to-purple gradient on the bottom of half the flag symbolizes how some vincians might be stereotypical, some might not be, and some are in-between or fluid.

There are various versions of this flag, including five-stripe and six-stripe "simplified" flags as well as various color edits to make the flag more purple with warmer greens, have different shades of green to represent the carnation flower, and one that added the color pink to the flag. Versions of the flag with the double-Mars symbol and the hyacinth flower have also been made.

The cinthean flag, was created by monstericfag on Twitter. The meaning is as follows: navy represents depth, purple represents beauty, fuchsia represents passion, pink represents pure love, peach represents joy, and white represents trans, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming people.

Another alternate vincian flag was designed by tumblr user Chara Violet on June 5, 2021. This flag is based on all the other flags for gay male subcultures:


 * On the top, there's a pink stripe which is seen on the twink flag + the crown in the drag flag. Pink is also a color that’s historically been used to represent gay men in various ways. On this flag, it stands for gender non-conformity
 * Then there's a peach stripe is to reminisce of the bear flag’s ambers and browns, while sticking to the aesthetic of the flag. On this flag, it represents sexuality and sensuality
 * The pale yellow stripe is found on both the twink flag and the bear flag, and on this flag it represents nblm and trans men
 * The pale azure stripe is used in the Achillean flag, as well as in many gender flags to represent masculinity (see: trans flag, demiboy flag, etc). On this flag, it represents strength and community
 * The lavender is also in the drag flag, and when next to the azure stripe it can reminisce of the blues used in the bi flag, leather flag, genderfluid flag, etc. On this flag, it represents peace and community.

And after all that, they all come together to form a pastel rainbow, referencing how the rainbow flag used to be the go-to for gay men, as well as how pastel/iridescence and unicorns are often used as symbols for the community.

Etymology
The term vincian was coined in honor of Leonardo da Vinci, who was an Italian polymath of the Renaissance. He was thought to be involved in various homosexual relationships, although no one has proven it. He is most famous for his painting of Mona Lisa.

Resources
Chara Violet (tumblr.com)