Alterous Attraction

Alterous attraction is a form of emotional attraction. It describes a feeling that is not necessarily platonic/queerplatonic, but also is not romantic in nature. The term was first introduced in approximately 2015. Since then, it has been variously used for a pull toward emotional closeness or intense feelings that may or may not have any relation to the romantic/nonromantic binary. Since 2016, some definitions of alterous have been criticized for implying than platonic or nonromantic feelings are inherently weaker than romantic ones. An alterous crush is known as a mesh, although the term is not widely used. One who does not experience alterous attraction may identify as a-alterous or nonalterous.

Flag
The alterous flag was made in 2016 by Tumblr user Alterous-Albatross. According to the introduction post, "The yellow stands for platonic. The gray stands for the gray area between romantic and platonic attraction. Pink represents affection. Red represents romantic."

Another proposed Alterous flag features three of the same stripes from Tumblr user Alterous-Albatross original flag, but includes a blue-grey stripe instead of a grey stripe to match other alterous identity flags. As before, the yellow stands for platonic. The blue-grey represents alterous attraction itself and how it exists somewhere in the gray area between platonic and romantic attraction. Pink represents affection, and red represents romance.