Aplatonic

Aplatonic, abbreviated Apl (pronounced as "apple") is an identity on the aplatonic spectrum that is used most commonly by a-spec individuals who do not experience platonic attraction, or by those who do not relate to the concept of platonic love.

The term has also been used by neurodivergent aromantics and traumatized aro individuals, who might not desire friendship or other platonic relationships.

Aplatonic does not refer to someone who simply "doesn't have friends" or "doesn't want friends", although either of these may also be true for an aplatonic person, rather it describes someone who does not experience "platonic crushes" or "squishes" like some a-spec individuals do. Some aplatonic individuals may still have strong platonic bonds (though not all desire strong platonic relationships) or have a general desire for friendships, however they never experience a strong desire to be friends with someone in particular, or feel as though the term "love" can be applied to the relationship.

History
The term aplatonic was first introduced by a homoromantic asexual on the AVEN forums on April 6, 2012. In his words, "I have friends and care about them; but love is a powerful word, and one I cannot apply to them."

Aplatonic seems to have been independently coined by aroarolibrary on Dec 30, 2014.

Flag
The earliest remaining record of the purple, blue, and green aplatonic flag is a submission to the now-deactivated pride-flags-for-us Tumblr blog somtime before December 30, 2014.

The colors are the inverse of yellow, pink, and brown, colors that are typically used to represent friendship. White represents how an aplatonic individuals can still be allosexual/alloromantic, a reference to the white stripe on the asexual and aromantic flags. Cream was used instead of pure white to make the flag more visually appealing.

The yellow aplatonic flag was created by Mod Hermy of Pride-Flags Deviantart on Sep 4, 2015. The black, grey, and white stripes match that of the asexual and aromantic flags. Yellow is used to symbolize the platonic/aplatonic spectrum.

The five striped aplatonic flag was created by Tumblr user xenictrender on April 14th, 2021. This flag was made to be more visually appealing. The additional brown stripe was made to even it out.